Making faith sense in STRANGE times: covid-19

  Life feels surreal right now. Our normally sheltered world has been tipped a bit. Making faith-sense of this is important work in our churches and our homes. You are probably being bombarded with ideas for what to do with yourself during this time. We don’t mean to add just one more thing. But we do want to give you a few simple statements about who God is that you can use. Here is a beginning to that making faith-sense work:
  • God is good. God did not send COVID-19 as a plague or punishment. It is a mutation, something that happened as part of the natural world, possibly aided by human-caused climate change. But God did not bring this upon us.
  • God is here. The image that keeps coming to mind as words like “shelter in place” swirl around is that of God as the mother hen “gathering her brood under her wings” (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34). Here we are, sheltered under the caring wings of God. Our 7-year-old reminded us yesterday that we are never alone, because we belong to God. In a time of physical separation from other humans, remember that God is here.
  • God gives us rest. Sabbath is going to take on new meaning. We often run from rest. Well, rest has caught us. One of the ways God is showing up in this time is in the slowing down of our lives.
  • God’s love is for everybody. We have floated along through global disasters, like the Ebola virus and wars, and even if we haven’t thought of it in these terms, many of us have had an internal sense of exemption from the worries that plague the world. There’s some difficult work for us right now in coming face-to-face with our entitlement. God’s love is truly for everybody, and that includes you - as well as the rest of the world.
  • God supplies enough for all. The toilet paper shortages highlight the lack of trust we have in God’s provision. God’s abundance may show up in odd places, but if we look around we will see enough for all. How is your family being called to participate in this abundance? Some people don’t have enough. When they trust in God to supply their needs, that help may come through you.
  • God places us in community. We can’t live out this community in the same way we normally do. So we have to get inventive! How can we be the family of God in ways we never imagined? In this slowed-down time, might we find our connections with each other to be strengthened?
                          What faith-sense are you making right now? Where do you see God’s work?
                             Perhaps your household might ask daily, “What was God up to today?”
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RESOURCES
Many organizations are posting information and sources that you might find useful.
​We have curated just a few things that we think are uniquely helpful right now: