I am in the middle of writing my talk for Sunday, a process that is not moving as quickly as I would like. Where I am going to land is icy looking at something that was prompted by a quote I read recently on a blog. The writer said this;

“we must be careful coming out of COVID that we aren’t creating permanent solutions to a temporary crisis”

It really struck me. This truly is a danger for us, both personally and together as a church, as we return to some form of whatever the new normal is going to be. I want to make sure that we aren’t putting things in place right now that seem vital to our current situation but will become irrelevant soon, whether we notice them or not. What are the practises and structures that are only meant to happen for this period and then need to die once we are through it? What are the practises and structures that were created here and are meant to continue forever.

I was chatting to a friend about this and they used the example of manna that was provided in the wilderness for the Children of Israel. They were never meant to live off the divinely provided manna for ever but for a season in the wilderness it was important. Once they reached the Promised Land they were supposed to plant crops and become self sustaining.

It’s got me thinking about what out of Covid was only meant for Covid and what was meant to be a reset and a permanent addition or subtraction from our lives. There are certain practises we have all adopted, certain practises we have put aside for this season and as life begins to return to normal we now must assess which need to remain and which need to go. Here are a few I think we need to have a look at;

• Family busy-ness
• Church services at a time that suits us
• Family Discipleship
• Online connection vs in person
• Working from home
• Rest
• Technology use and engagement

There are many more that each of us will want to add to this list but this is the perfect season to ensure we don’t continue things we weren’t meant to. It’s hard to fill the hands of someone who is already carrying too much.