Living With Change

Well, we made it through Easter (Passover) with an empty sanctuary. Never thought I’d see this day coming. I was the only one there running the pre-recorded service, using a faulty internet, with a shared message from our evangelist in another state.

Were we ready? No way!

Yet, we are learning to live with change. This is our new normal for a little while. Will it ever return back to the way we were accustomed? Probably not. What will be different? Time will tell.

Driving home from church I listened to a short interview with a school superintendent here in Washington. A quick analysis is showing that learning can happen from home. Will school ever return back in force without a vaccination in place? Who knows… Will we start in the fall? Who knows…

Of the past 4 weeks of living with the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order of our governor, this weekend opened my thinking to what life will be like when the corona virus is defeated.

What Can We Expect?

What we expect is that everything will return to “life as we knew it…”

Reality is perhaps a far cry from life just a month ago! I may never shake another hand without carrying around sanitizer and immediately disinfecting my skin. Masks become the new normal and how will banks ever adapt to all their customers looking like potential bandits? Face shields, anyone? Perhaps we need to carry our own disinfected oxygen.

We are learning what is “essential” and the government has the impetus to state what is necessary. Can we trust them in spiritual matters? Or do we simply acquiesce and give up our meeting space and do everything online? Well, we found out the internet is bogged down with too many users! All software has it’s limitations, there’s no “reach out and touch” app that replaces a hand on the shoulder, a prayer for the sick, or a simple face-to-face sit down over a cup of coffee and a bible study.

Here’s My Thought Today

I woke early, pre-dawn, and immediately my mind when into overdrive. It revved, burnt all the fuel, and I drifted back off to sleep.

But this thought kept coming back.

Welcome to our new normal!

Gone are the crowds, and if they ever show up, I tell you how peaceful the good ol’ days of isolation will be remembered!

Still, think about that first Monday after the Passover Weekend. All the followers of Jesus are sort of stumbling around trying to find their way forward. Their “normal” was only a few short years, but it set the stage for their “new life”. Jesus spoke words of life, healed the sick, challenged every way they thought about how life should be lived. His parables opened their minds to reveal what was missing in the hearts.

Can you hear it? What’s your sense about what people are dealing with?

Adaptation

In today’s world, since the isolation orders began, I’ve not seen a single bag of flour on the shelves at the store. All gone! Along with the paper products we take for granted. What’s next? Headlines this morning, a meat producer has totally shut down. Too many workers are sick. What will that do for our future? What’s next?

You see, what’s changed has not finished into the image of what it will be like in a few weeks, or months, or even next year!

The strong survive as the weak fail to adapt to the new normal. That’s not physical strength alone. It’s mental toughness. Spiritual strength. It’s learning that the race is not over, and the finish line is still years away.

Can you hear Peter? At some point after the resurrection, he simply says, “I go a fishing!” (John 21:3, KJV) Trust me when I say, there is not another phrase like this in scripture. Here is the presumed leader of the new church, hanging around his old stomping grounds (Sea of Galilee – Tiberias), wondering when Jesus will show up next. Maybe he sees his boat docked, and nothing else going on that he can be part of. Perhaps his pockets are empty of money and there’s no way he can shop for his needs.

Whatever it is… I go a fishing. Can you hear him muttering under his breath? I can stand around here doing nothing only for so long! I’m returning back to what my life was like before he called me to be a fisher of men.

This Morning

This morning, with a certainty that I can only feel within, I realize that life has changed. It will never return back to yesteryear. Maybe I’m too old to lead the new charge forward, but I can tell you that I’m not ready to simply throw in the towel and give up!

We must adapt!

The mission never changes. The vision of how we accomplish it will change frequently.

The new church showed the spirit of adaptation! When challenged, they went to jail. Willingly, it seems. Why? Jesus said they would suffer for his name’s sake. When persecution came, they fled before it and opened new territory! Why? Jesus commissioned them to go forth and make disciples! There were no grand buildings to anchor their faith. They lived the message going House to House! (Acts 2:46) This was Paul’s method as he built mission churches on the new frontier! (Acts 20:20)

This morning, I realize I may never see flour as a commodity to decide on the fly whether I have enough back home. Buy it while it’s there!

And haircuts? My favorite barbers are gone. One retired two years ago, and my new one has been tested and found a great substitute…but she’s isolated in her cocoon of not being able to work! So. Here go the shears, two mirrors, comb, and a towel around my shoulders. Snip. Clip. Buzz.

Don’t blame me for what I cannot see. And I will do the same for you!

Maybe our new normal will not look like it did last year, but I have the attitude that will change and adapt as we move forward. Do you?