“WOW! What a couple of weeks!” That is how most emails, texts, calls and virtual conversations start now.
All of us have been affected by CV-19. Our families, our schedule, our work, our finances, and health are all in flux. We have even had to adjust to a new lexicon of words as well: ‘Contagion,’ ‘Pandemic,’ ‘Social Distance,’ ‘Shelter in Place,’ are a few. Those words have disrupted our natural routine, made us pivot as a ministry, inclined us toward the Lord and given us fodder for animated ‘kitchen table’ conversations with family. Some vocabulary that we have had to familiarize ourselves with are below.
VOCABULARY SURROUNDING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
ASYMPTOMATIC (adjective): showing no symptoms of a particular disease
CARRIER (noun): a person that transmits a disease to others, whether suffering from it themselves or not
COVID-19 (noun): official name for the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 = COronaVIrus Disease-2019
EPIDEMIC (noun): occurrence of a particular disease in a large number of people in a particular area
INCUBATION PERIOD (noun): the time from first exposure to a disease to the time when symptoms develop
INFECTIOUS (adjective): describing a disease that can be transmitted through the environment
ISOLATION (noun): separation of infected people from healthy people for serious contagious diseases
NOVEL (noun): the word novel means “new”
OUTBREAK (noun): a sudden occurrence of a disease (or other unpleasant thing)
QUARANTINE (noun): isolation of people exposed to an infectious disease to see if they develop symptoms
SHELTER IN PLACE (verb): isolate oneself; put oneself in quarantine, away from other people
SOCIAL DISTANCING (noun): practice of minimizing contact, by banning large or small groups/meetings
SYMPTOMATIC (adjective): showing symptoms of a particular disease
VACCINE (noun): a substance used to protect humans and animals from a disease
VIRUS (noun): a living thing, too small to be seen without a microscope, that causes infectious disease
How does a relational ministry thrive in a social distancing world. All of us have pondered, “how will we reach more kids when we can’t even be in a room with them?” But maybe there is another perspective that we can embrace? The phrase I have heard this week is “new normal.” I’ve been told we need to accept it, acknowledge it, get used to it, and adjust to it. The new normal could be a world with 6 feet of personal space, masks, essential travel, and governmental directives but here is the part of the new normal that I think could be helpful.
A new normal where our rhythm is slower
A new normal where our families are closer
A new normal where rich conversations are daily
A new normal where relationships are deeper
A new normal where hope and peace resurface
A new normal where every day we are finding new ways to meet more kids
A new normal where a hunger for God’s will grows -- globally
A new normal where we are as comfortable being ‘together and with’ as ‘off and alone’
You see, Social Distance by its definition is exclusively PHYSICAL, but YL’s model of ministry is way more comprehensive. There is a closeness that is physical but also, RELATIONAL, SPIRITUAL, AND EMOTIONAL. Those connections can still happen with a potency and intentionality that hasn’t been experienced recently. As we all are aware, if we take away one faculty, other capabilities have the opportunity to become more acute.
The world has been forced to stop and it is not over. What if we saw our current situation as an opportunity to stop, assess, talk, train, listen, and learn. In short-RESET. As we go forward in slow motion, the adjustment in speed may give us a window to see in detail. With restrictions we face - we will find a way. There is nothing more innovative and GOSPEL-centered than that! This global crisis could be one of the greatest opportunities for the mission and for that hope to spring from this tragedy has precedent all throughout the Bible- let's not miss it.
In the early days of COVID 19’s growing presence in the US, Lynn Unger penned a simple poem about a virus that went viral on social media. It catches the tension of socially distancing and relationally connecting. Maybe we could adopt her words in our prayers.
PANDEMIC
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath —
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
.
Promise this world your love —
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
— Lynn Ungar 3/11/20
As the YL mission has wrapped its collective heart around Psalm 91, it may be helpful to remember that in the back and forth rhythm of “He will” and “You will” in the 16 verses of that passage, the Lord’s role is action and our role is to not fear and observe. We were made for this! Let’s wash our hands and get to work if this is going to be THE NEW NORMAL!
Written by Ken Tankersley