It has been 18 months since the Covid pandemic first hit our shores and, for many, life has returned to its usual busy pace. Of course, for a lot of us preachers, life never slowed down. Caring for those within our churches, learning to navigate online streaming and feeling the impact of both collective and personal losses all mean that we may well have reached the point of feeling like we are running on empty.
While we can celebrate with those in our congregation that are simply pleased to be able to get back to their job’s usual environment, and to in person services, something in us still feels overwhelmed. Others in our congregations are feeling like this too – not everyone has welcomed the return to some sort of ‘normality’.
We need to extend compassion to one another, and be sensitive to the fact that we don’t all process at the same pace. As psychologist Dr Kate Middleton explained to me: ‘The balance of rest and stimulation right now is a tough one for everyone – our minds need both, but many people are just exhausted and there’s such a debt of stuff that needs processing and understanding.’
I believe that lament is a vital part of our ongoing journey. In some ways, the landscape of our world has changed forever: we have seen how little we truly control, as a simple virus swept through the world and brought us to our knees, killing literally millions of us. In an attempt to keep the virus at bay, we were kept apart, losing our sense of personal connection to one another.
