Will we have a one dose or a two dose summer? No one knows and what’s more there is nothing that we can do about it. It depends on two things completely out of our control: how much vaccine will be available and how many people will take advantage of that vaccine. Last fall we organized getting a new deck built this spring. The builder has the required lumber and is ready to go but we are waiting on the local township to get our building permit to us. Nothing we can do to hurry that process along. All the ‘i’s have been dotted and the “t’s crossed.
The Bible came into being over a period of hundreds of years. It involved many people copying and editing texts, deciding what should stay in and what could be discarded. So considering just why a certain story was included is sometimes an interesting way to approach scripture. Some of the post-Easter stories can be helpful to us as we struggle to relate to this current pandemic.
One of my favourite of these stories is ‘The Road to Emmaus’ (Luke 24:13-35). It tells the story of two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmanus. They meet a stranger along the way and regale him with how their lives had just fallen apart with the death of the prophet they had been following. They were upset, discouraged and couldn‘t imagine a way forward. A relationship between the three came into being over a meal. Suddenly the way ahead looked brighter. A new way was possible, different but possible.
Then we have the story of the disciples who locked themselves in a room because they were afraid of retribution from the religious leaders of the time. (John 20:19) The way of life that they had known was no more. Eventually they would band together (into what we would call today a commune) living in community, sharing their material goods equally. They would head outside the community to spread stories of Jesus and how these had changed their lives but with a new appreciation of the dangers that might be lurking.
COVID-19 has changed us and the way we see the world. However these stories have told us that there will be a way forward, different but nonetheless good.
"Different but nonetheless good"...I will hold onto your statement, Lynn. My sister recently missed two steps coming out of the health food store back home...due to the inability to properly see over her mask while wearing bifocals behind extra big sunglasses for light sensitive eyes. Landed splat on her face but those large sunglasses saved her teeth from connecting with cement. (Thank goodness, she lost one of those several years ago in a similar fall). Her yogurt sadly was a complete write off but she was supplied with a free one to take its place and a very kind lady came up to her lying on the ground and said: "May I help you? I just sanitized my hands!!" Different but nonetheless good. Ever onward to wherever, (My sister is still a little achy but finding laughter to be a wonderful medicine. No bones broken but sadly, her sunglasses did not survive).
ReplyDeleteJudy Imrie