Beyond the Wasteland

If history teaches us anything, it would appear to be that each generation has to face and deal with its own particular tragedy.

My parents lived through and served during the last world war, meeting amidst the terrible days of the blitz and marrying into a country where so much had become scarred and ruined by the sheer devastation of what happened.
They never talked much about it, and when they did, it was usually to talk up the brief good moments or to play down the bad, but it was clearly dreadful. Family and friends were lost, familiar places and ways finished abruptly, and life had to change.

We're only just beginning to wake up to the fact that we're passing into a similar change. There have been 'ripples' in the past few decades that should have caught our attention, but we mostly carry on as we have until the ground is shifting beneath our feet, and that has most certainly begun to happen in these past few weeks.

The next stage is similar to what my parents encountered - the outside world may not disappear in the same way, but our relationship to it and to each other is being re-written now in a fashion that is probably going to have a continual impact for months, possibly even years to come.

So what matters in the midst of what's happening?

Love and care is what must come first, but genuine love will always drive us to do the right thing for each other - to act in a fashion that will impact thoroughly to bring the most good.

Christianity shows us that the remedy can only properly be applied when the malady is truly appreciated. Christ came in the 'fulness of time' to accomplish redemption. In like fashion, God uses all things to bring about a genuine awareness of His love and our need, so amidst the present crisis, we need to be considering how we can say and do what is genuinely good for all, carrying on as normal as much as possible but being deeply aware of the needs of others and how best to respond to these.

In prior times, Christians have run care facilities and established hospitals, provided resources, learning or manpower to overcome particular needs, quarantined themselves in the light of certain death to assist others - the key in all was giving ourselves in a fashion which shows love and seeks to echo God's great mercy to our dying world.

May God watch over us in these difficult days, give us wisdom, and help us to truly help each other in the love that's made ours in the justifying work of Jesus Christ.

Footnote: One of the best informative pieces on the current virus can be found here.