In someway, I would like to rant on the political side of this situation.
In others, I would like to formulate my own stance on the virus.
In a third way, mostly I am just fatigued.
I am tired of projections and predictions.
I am tired of distancing.
I am tried of awaiting what may or may not come.
This in no way is to disregard those suffering. My heart hurts for those who are hurting. My prayer is God moves swiftly in your healing, in your provision, in your life. These are the words of fatigue, which in and of itself is a paradox since isolation has also slowed life down where little is getting done.
I am the first to admit that I lack answers to the questions of when, how long, and the one that haunts all of us “why”.
What I do know is that this has made the lonely more lonely. It has made the fight for joy that much harder. It has made the gap in Christian community that much more vast. We can Zoom, we can FaceTime, snap stories and Tik Tok around the clock, but we were made for two purposes: to love God and love others. While we have thousands of methods to deliver content, it is still impossible to deliver a hug. While we can mass stream the message, we still sit at a place where we need one person to sit with us in our mess.
I am not advocating breaking stride with recommendations. I am anxious to see this season end. And end, one day it will. My hope and prayer is that when days of distance end, we do not keep the patterns of our distancing. My hope is that we run into spaces and places with people. My concern is that if even for just a short season this new normal of life over devices keeps us at a distance from one another. That in this space of curated faith we forget the community of that saints.
This is not a discussion of rights and freedoms. This is a discussion of design. God in the garden looked at his creation of man and said “it is not good” for man to be alone. The first note in the biblical narrative of something that was not good. Everything else to that point had been good. In fact, man crafted in the image of God was “very good”, until the point of recognition that he was alone.
More than ever we feel alone and that is not good. More than ever we need each other. More than ever once this passes, we will need to gather. More than ever we will need to join hearts, hands, voices in prayer and praise to our Creator. I am tired, I am fatigued, but I am hopeful. I am hopeful of longing hearts opening homes to one another. Friends, family, and even strangers may break bread around tables together in communion. I am hopeful that those who in the midst of crisis have found or renewed faith will find a community of disciples to build them and equip them. I am hopeful because in the midst of crisis, Christ has been preached around the globe. I am hopeful that saints have slowed down and taken real time with their Savior.
I am hopeful because on this Easter as much as any other, the message of the greatest hope is still very true: Jesus is risen. He is alive forever more and this is very good.
