The Covid-19 pandemic is a distressing reality that is shaking our world and forcing us to live differently. For some, it has brought with it a demanding workload and almost crippling hours and conditions. If this is you, or someone in your relational circle, we salute you!
For others, it may feel as though the world has come to a screeching stop. Many of us are confined to our homes as we wait out the contagion. Perhaps we are working from home, or overseeing kids as they do school online. Some of us are living alone and feeling the isolation of compulsory quarantine. Certainly, our usual routines are disrupted and we might feel as though we are no longer in control of our lives in the ways we had assumed.
How might we enter with some intention into this unusual season? What are some ways to create the space we need to listen to God’s voice, beneath the clamour of news and social media updates? This season of restricted movement has been described by some as an enforced sabbatical. And while it might not feel like your idea of a sabbatical, I believe this season offers us an unsought for opportunity to practice ways of paying attention to God, and to the state of our own hearts. Indeed, unless we do so we will find ourselves lacking the resilience and inner resources to live well through this particular season and on into whatever our post-pandemic reality looks like.