It’s a scary time for some in our communities at the moment with concerns over Coronavirus COVID-19. How are you feeling about it and how is it impacting your friends, neighbours, families & colleagues?
On a practical level we each have a responsibility to understand the virus (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51048366) and its symptoms and also follow current guidelines (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51506729) on keeping ourselves and each other as safe as is realistic.
Meanwhile, what does it mean for us on a personal, emotional and spiritual level?
We spend most of our lives feeling like we’re in control. All of a sudden that is being thrown into question, and that can be scary. At Reconnect, we are inviting each other to ask ourselves this question: How can we be individuals and communities of kindness, hope, gentleness & honesty in the current circumstances?
Who in my neighbourhood may feel isolated or fearful – what might I do to show that I care? Where might I feel isolated or fearful – how can I show up with honesty with those around me?
Whilst Reconnect is a community of people who stand in many different places in relation to faith, our community is centred around the person of Jesus who found his community anxious and petrified about the future and said “Peace!” What might that mean for me today?
What might it mean for my neighbour or colleague? Maybe I could make a point of phoning an elderly neighbour or someone else who may be more anxious for some reason to see if they need anything.
If I am anxious, how can I find practices which keep taking me back to a place of peace, and enable me to look up and not just down? One thought might be to use the practice of washing our hands as a moment to pray and remind ourselves of God. Some have suggested saying the Lord’s Prayer as you do it (rather than singing Happy Birthday 2 times!)
Let’s be communities of kindness, hope, gentleness and honesty – it might just make a real difference.