For the last few months, I have been reading a book called ‘be not afraid; facing fear with faith’ by Rev Dr Samuel Wells. It is a collection of reflections covering our fears of death, weakness, power, difference, faith, and life, and it has felt especially poignant at this time. I have found myself pondering the question of faith in light of COVID-19 and have found much food for thought in the pages of this book. It has been described as good medicine, for naming our fears and offering remedy in the Gospel.
One chapter begins: “Hold out both of your hands in front of you, palms upward. Think about God, the Father’s hands, which made the world in all its glory and wonder, and think about the detail and care that went into those hands. Now look at the centre of each hand and think about Jesus the Son’s hands that redeemed the world, and the nails that were rammed through each palm as he did so, and see how much the Son loved us. And now look at your hands once more, and think about the Holy Spirit, and realize that the Holy Spirit’s hands are the ones that you are looking at now. That’s what it means to be Christian, to be a disciple”.
When things go wrong and bad things happen in the world, we seem to fall into two camps, we either think that God is against us and punishing us, or we question God’s existence because ‘how could he let these things happen?’. We seem to find it much more difficult to recognise God at work by the Holy Spirit acting through our hands and the hands of those around us.
Before the outbreak, with the divisions of Brexit, for example, we were seeing a breakdown of community and an increase in individualistic outlook. It is a stark contrast to what we are seeing all around us at the moment, with the outpouring of love and generosity for those in our communities, in the actions of those volunteering for the NHS, and those researching the virus or changing their manufacturing activities to make ventilators and PPE. We are seeing communities come together for the common good. People being more present to each other and caring for one another.
The title of the book, Be not afraid, is from Isaiah 41:10 and continues with ‘for I am with you, do not be afraid for I am your God; I will strengthen you and help you’. It is a verse that fills me with hope. Good Friday and the scars in Jesus’ hands, shows us the length that God will go to be with us, even though we reject him. It is in Jesus’ teachings and actions that the nature of God is revealed and it is a God of boundless grace and not vengeful punishment.
I have had moments recently when in a break from the technology enabled work meetings and social catch ups, I have needed some time to be silent and with things that are more natural. To just pause and listen to the natural sounds around me. I didn’t do that often before the lockdown. On the flip side, I have several friends with whom we would be content to just sit in companionable silence over a drink with the occasional observation, and this is just not possible over video call. I miss the freedom, the social gatherings, church and our community. We are still a community - we just have to find new ways to connect with one another, new ways to show generosity, to love and look out for one another, while maintaining our social distance.
There are things that we enjoy and things that we use. Things we enjoy never run out and we enjoy them for their own sake. Things that we use, are limited in supply, and have a purpose. Our lives at the moment have been stripped back, gone are many of the things we used to keep us busy and distracted, the social contact is different and via video link, or a conversation across the road, and we have more time physically alone. But this is also a time where it is easier to see those things and relationships that are important to us, and those things that we enjoy for their own sake. These are the things that we need to ‘hold onto with both hands’ and give our full attention to.
“Jesus said, blessed be those that mourn and weep, for one day you shall laugh”
The rainbows in peoples windows are a great reminder to us all of what happens after the rain and that we are all under the same sky together. There will be an end to these difficult and uncertain times, we will not pass through them unchanged, but there will be a rainbow at the end of this storm. We need to keep calm, stay home, be patient, look after one another and our NHS, and keep hoping for that better time.
May you know love, and find hope and peace at this time.
Sarah
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