COVID Times by Rev Jill-Hailey Harries, Union of Welsh Independent Churches (UWI)
At the beginning of the year we watched the world being
affected and infected by the Coronavirus, later called COVID-19. We watched the world, as if we were not part of that world, here in Wales. We thought we were untouchable. But I am sitting writing this from my study during a second lockdown or ‘firebreak’ as the Welsh Government wishes to call it. Whatever its name, we are very restricted, something that none of us have experienced before this year. We have asked many times what would this new experience bring, what would we have to relinquish? That regular meeting up with friend for coffee would have to go, no more visits to the gym, no football or rugby training, no ballet or piano lessons. The school, the pubs and even the chapel closed. And for a moment it felt like a blessed relief, we were relieved of our duties, and we had time to think and to rethink our lives and what to do with our time. We started by cleaning the house, sorting out the cupboards, we decluttered our homes and spent time in the garden. We telephoned friends we hadn’t spoken to for years, we clapped on our doorsteps for the NHS (National Health Service), some even sang, well we are a nation of song! And on those nights when we clapped we got to know our neighbours, sometimes for the first time ever. The rhythm of our lives had changed, it was time to change the beat. The rhythm of our lives defines us in many ways, during our journey through life it will change many times over. If that is the case then we shouldn’t be worried about it changing again now. We need to ask, did our lives have a rhythm before the pandemic or was it just us rushing around. We have certainly been in too much of a rush to keep our homes tidy and in order, and if that is the case, what else have we been careless about? We have questioned whether we need as
42
many worldly things and whether we need to be as involved in so many extracurricular activities, so much so, that we don’t really give our all to anything. At the beginning of lockdown we noticed the rhythm of nature for the first time in years. We heard bird song, we saw the beauty of the creation around us, and for just a moment we were in tune with it all, we were following the same beat. We liked what we saw, and we saw that it was good. Then came Zoom ... and we were reminded that we couldn’t just sit in our gardens and homes, we had work to do. We missed the life we had, Zoom helped us to get some of our old lives back. Churches began holding their services on Zoom and on other social media, schools and colleges started teaching over the internet. And we started to cry out for what thought we had lost. So many have compared the situation to the Israelites wanting to return to Egypt, forgetting they had been captives there. They were heading towards something completely new, and they didn’t like it. No more than we like it when faced with something new. We are reminded how like the Israelites we are as lockdown is relaxed and we enter back into our community slowly, little by little, as the Israelites slowly returned from Babylon. For them rebuilding the temple seemed too difficult, too much like hard work. When eventually they did rebuild it, people said it wasn’t big enough and not at all splendid. Some have dipped their toes back into the community and been back to their church buildings, other churches have held services on Zoom, and we have tried to imitate the services we used to hold, an hour long hymn sandwich! Are we captives to the past? We needed this second lockdown, because we need to think again, this is a time for reform, life is complicated, spiritual life is complicated, and the Christian life is certainly complicated. There is a rhythm to be had, and God calls us through Jesus Christ to find that rhythm. It is not an easy
INSiGHT | December 2020
