Reflection for March 16, 2020 – Living in Our Own Lent
Today I watched a YouTube video of messages from Italians under quarantine of what they wish they could have told themselves 10 days ago, before the coronavirus exploded in their country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMY0-4p9P-M
All the messages hit on the same theme – that the pandemic was underestimated, the virus is worse than they’d feared, and they wish they’d been smarter about it.
The lessons we’ve learned from Italy are why schools, restaurants, stadiums, and even churches now stand empty. We know that things will get bad. But we are also still hopeful that the worst might be avoided.
It’s far too soon to tell, but it’s not inconceivable that this pandemic could keep most of us at a standstill all the way through Lent and past Easter.
I’ve always struggled to find meaning in some of the traditional Lenten practices of the Christian church. I’ll avoid choosing the hymns where we sing “Alleluia,” simply because that’s what’s done. While I fully affirm and endorse the practice of fasting from certain foods abstaining from certain luxuries as a way of showing our penitence and sacrifice, it’s never really worked for me.
My problem with Lent is that it’s difficult to replicate that sense of scarcity and sacrifice in a world where everything is at our fingertips.
This week, we no longer have that problem.
I have every confidence that supply chains will continue to function, that stores will re-stock, and that we’ll be able to get what we need for food, toilet paper, and disinfectants.
But for many of us, each of our households will be physical islands unto themselves. We’re being asked to work from home (if we can). Avoid physical contact. No unnecessary trips to the store. Certainly no playdates or social gatherings.
We are living in our own Lent.
This is our own time of trial; our own hour of sacrifice.
It will not be easy. It will not be pleasant. And there is likely to be some pain along the way.
But I know that we will get through it.
At this point I certainly hope, but I cannot promise, that we will celebrate Easter together. But as a creatures of God, called into covenant together, bound to each other, we have our own day of resurrection to look forward to.
On the day when the all-clear sounds, and that day will come, we will rejoice together. We will gather that Sunday with hearty handshakes and joyous hugs. We will sing and we will cry and we will eat -Lord knows we will eat! – together. We will be as God created us to be.
That day will come.
And until it does we will still be church together. We will check in with each other through phone calls and video chats. We will pray for each other. And we will love one another.
May God bless us all during this trying time and lead us through the darkness into new life together!
Today I watched a YouTube video of messages from Italians under quarantine of what they wish they could have told themselves 10 days ago, before the coronavirus exploded in their country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMY0-4p9P-M
All the messages hit on the same theme – that the pandemic was underestimated, the virus is worse than they’d feared, and they wish they’d been smarter about it.
The lessons we’ve learned from Italy are why schools, restaurants, stadiums, and even churches now stand empty. We know that things will get bad. But we are also still hopeful that the worst might be avoided.
It’s far too soon to tell, but it’s not inconceivable that this pandemic could keep most of us at a standstill all the way through Lent and past Easter.
I’ve always struggled to find meaning in some of the traditional Lenten practices of the Christian church. I’ll avoid choosing the hymns where we sing “Alleluia,” simply because that’s what’s done. While I fully affirm and endorse the practice of fasting from certain foods abstaining from certain luxuries as a way of showing our penitence and sacrifice, it’s never really worked for me.
My problem with Lent is that it’s difficult to replicate that sense of scarcity and sacrifice in a world where everything is at our fingertips.
This week, we no longer have that problem.
I have every confidence that supply chains will continue to function, that stores will re-stock, and that we’ll be able to get what we need for food, toilet paper, and disinfectants.
But for many of us, each of our households will be physical islands unto themselves. We’re being asked to work from home (if we can). Avoid physical contact. No unnecessary trips to the store. Certainly no playdates or social gatherings.
We are living in our own Lent.
This is our own time of trial; our own hour of sacrifice.
It will not be easy. It will not be pleasant. And there is likely to be some pain along the way.
But I know that we will get through it.
At this point I certainly hope, but I cannot promise, that we will celebrate Easter together. But as a creatures of God, called into covenant together, bound to each other, we have our own day of resurrection to look forward to.
On the day when the all-clear sounds, and that day will come, we will rejoice together. We will gather that Sunday with hearty handshakes and joyous hugs. We will sing and we will cry and we will eat -Lord knows we will eat! – together. We will be as God created us to be.
That day will come.
And until it does we will still be church together. We will check in with each other through phone calls and video chats. We will pray for each other. And we will love one another.
May God bless us all during this trying time and lead us through the darkness into new life together!
