Yesterday, I read this article shared by a couple of friends (Thanks, Grizelda and Jeff). The main thrust of the article is about the massive cultural re-framing that is on the horizon to rebuild the American economy and bolster the current Administration ahead of November (NB: I believe the author is absolutely right on these points…and in some ways the re-framing has already begun. Get ready, and beware!). However, the undertone of the article is about everything that has been unmasked globally, nationally, locally, and personally because the entire culture was forced to come to an abrupt halt in response to the coronavirus. If you are like me, you’ve experienced moments when life was moving at such a harried pace that you just wanted to stop the world? Well, we are collectively experiencing this moment.
Our current situation calls me back to John’s Apocalypse in the New Testament. In the course of John’s visions, angels blow horns and pour out horrific plagues upon the Earth. These plagues, of course, harken us back to Egypt and God’s redemption of Israel from slavery (NB: The overlap here is not accidental). The motive behind God unleashing plagues upon Creation in Scripture always remains redemptive. Against the idea that plagues are purely punitive (which some Christians pull out of their bag of tricks during anything that mirrors a biblical plague), plagues and natural destruction (“acts of God” in legal jargon) are moments of grace designed to disrupt Creation. These catastrophic events intend to wake us up not only to the reality of the person and presence of God, but also to ourselves, to the state of our neighbor, and to our place in the world. For the majority of people, catastrophic events forcibly open space in time allowing us to reconsider everything and offer an opportunity to “repent” or chart a different course into the future.
The impact of COVID-19 has almost completely disrupted our lives and presented us with this very gift (“grace”). The writer of the article notes several realities we have been awakened to:
- The severity of urban pollution now whisked away to unveil the beauty of our cities because few are commuting
- The sheer noise of our large cities silenced because we are sheltering in place, unveiling a oddly pleasant peacefulness
- The breakdown of the nature/culture split as “coyotes have been spotted on the Golden Gate Bridge,” reminding us that we are Creatures that participate in Creation
- A broken healthcare system that is clearly designed more for profit than staff or patient care, which ought to be its primary aim
- A thin American economy unable to protect smaller businesses or workers and that evidences an extremely narrow wealth distribution
- An Administration whose repeated cry of “fake news” and stoking of fringe conspiracies has deconstructed social trust, leaving people with few (if any) credible sources for information.
These insights are all systemic, but there are others I’ve become aware of that hit closer to home
- A deeper appreciation for and connection with my actual neighbors
- A different perspective on work
- A deeper engagement with my children’s schooling (although I’m not shifting to homeschool and will always advocate for taking better care of teachers).
- A greater fondness for close friendships in their absence.
- An appreciation for preparing meals at home.
- An enjoyment of the slower, steadier pace to our lives (although we do need to establish deeper routines to end what I’ve come to call the Groundhog Day effect)
- A realization that work meetings can be made more efficient and friendships can be more readily sustained using FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, Zoom or other platforms
- A need for a slower and deeper pace of life
While we have moved through this Easter in the shadow of the coronavirus, Easter always confronts us with the ultimate disruption – Resurrection. How will we proceed with our lives and how will we decide to operate within the structures of our world now that we are faced with the reality of the absolute hope unleashed by God and declared ever-present by the activity of the Holy Spirit? What insights from the disruption of this moment will we cling to as the Powers (if you haven’t, read up on Paul’s idea of the “powers” in the New Testament) try to move us to “getting the economy going again?”
Because everything has stopped, has been stopped for a while, and will continue to be stopped for a while longer, we have the space in time to ask these hard questions. We have the opportunity to realign our priorities. We have the ability to question whether we will fall back into old patterns; that is, to just “get back to normal.” Resurrection proclaims that those in Christ live renewed lives, the question is…will we embrace that calling, or will we resurrect what Paul calls the “old person?”
Beyond the fear within our present moment, the disruptions of Easter and the coronavirus offer us opportunities for moments of clarity. Don’t let them pass you, or us, by. I’m going to try my best and invite you to join me!