I do not think it an understatement to suggest that the world is currently not normal. Right before our eyes we can watch on the television as the systems which have been put in place, struggle to cope and the people in charge, who mostly have arrived at this moment in history by unknowable dumb luck (because who in all honestly would have wanted to be in charge in a time like this) are also struggling to cope.
It is a stressful and disconcerting time and one in which we are being asked to do things which are not normal. One of those things which we are being asked to do, is all of the social distancing that we can, or rather all the social distancing that is possible.
All of us aware of the problem. The world is as it is. That shouldn’t mean that it necessarily should take up all of our available brain power in running around in very small anxiety circles; nor does it demand that we spend each and every second of the day in a sense of existential dread. I think what the moment is calling is to do is to be kind, to be compassionate, and to understand where we are.
There has not been a moment in history like this before and more than likely, there will not be another for the foreseeable future (I hope).
I for one am grateful that we are living in the opening part of the 21st Century where there is a decent standard of medical and that our understanding of disease and how to treat it, is sufficient enough to make us scared of what is going on. Had we been living in the, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries, we would have seen people dying of the Plague and not really known what it was at all. We live in a time and place where we know exactly what our enemy is and if you want to go searching the internet, you can even find pictures of it.
This is a profoundly uncertain and scary time. Even though the medical experts and scientists have quite rightly told us that we need to practice social distancing and maybe even complete quarantine that doesn’t mean that we need to isolate ourselves. Even though we can not gather, we still need to find ways to be together. Churches and clubs, friends and families, can still use the means of technology available to us. The buildings and the sporting fields and the restaurants and maybe even our own houses might have the doors closed, that that doesn’t mean that the connections which underpin those things should be.
We have lessons from the past which might be instructive about what to do in a world where we are all individually separated by space:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 1:1-8
You can choose to reject this out of hand if you don't care about religion, and fair play to you because I don't really want to give a lesson in theology but what I do want to say about this is what this is and why this as a piece of literature is important for this particular moment in time.
The chap writing this, Paul, was a political prisoner probably in Rome; more than likely facing an uncertain death sentence. Whether someone is imprisoned because of the vicissitudes of fate and the law or someone is a prisoner inside their own house because of public heath directive, is much of a muchness (though to be fair, I do not consider that being held in chains in prison sounds like a particularly pleasant set of circumstances).
What we have here is a person who is stuck inside a small confine; who consciously remembers that there are people elsewhere. That might not sound very remarkable in a city of over five million people but the first step in not being beaten down is to remember that we are not alone.
More importantly, this is a letter. It is obvious that the first century didn’t have mobile phones and the internet; so that should have made the task of communicating with people physically more difficult than today. Paul either wrote a letter himself, or had it dictated to someone else.
The mere fact that you are reading this is proof that you already possess the necessary means to communicate with people. Most of the western world now walks around with an amazing device in their pocket which has the means to communicate with people tens of thousands of miles away; by text, voice, and video. We are living so far in the future, that in our pockets we have more computing power than what sent astronauts to the moon; so why not use the power which exists at our fingertips.
Ring people.
Text people.
Video chat with people.
Maybe even use that decidedly ancient technology and write a physical letter with ink on dead tree paper.
When Paul wrote his letters from prison, which was the best tech of the day, those letters had to be physically carried across the Roman Empire, usually by foot. If we use the current road network as a rough guide, and assume that the mail travels at an average speed of 30 miles a day then that gives us a transit time of 26 days at a bare minimum. We are not in that position. It does not take us 26 days to send a message: it takes us 26 milliseconds.
While I will admit that we have the right to be disappointed, the right to be angry, the right to be scared, the right to cry, I will ask what the point is? Fear is useful because it teaches us to be respectful of the thing that causes something dangerous or undesirable to happen to us. To be fearful of snakes, of spiders, or drowning, of being electrocuted, of God, of traffic, or of a virus, is a useful defence mechanism that prevents you from an untimely death. It should however only be like the Free Parking square on the Monopoly board: it takes up space, and you have to move on anyway. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. Do something!
Ring people.
Text people.
Video chat with people.
Remember: we might be isolated but we will not be alone.
As we may hold in our hearts the loved ones we will miss, we must hold our communities in our hearts. Know that we are still a community, even if not physically. Know that life will return to a normality; albeit maybe a different type of normality. Know that around the corner there are people who are able to help if we need support. Know that we can offer and give support. Know we can connect in ways that are different to what we are used to but still valuable and meaningful.
The doors might be closed on the places and people that we love but the windows are not.
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