A New Normality

The sky is the limit to what can be said of 2020, what it has brought us and how we are responding or reacting to it. i.e., There's this notion of "getting back to normal". Suffice it to say that me thinks that 2020 has dispatched most forms of what was normal and smashed every trace of perceived normality. There has been much talk about 'a reset' of the way we 'do church'. The talk is not about COVID-19 protocols but "Holy Spirit Leads" if you please. Many have been and are struggling with 'something missing' in the sanctuary. There appears to be, though not completely new, a sense of restlessness. Perhaps COVID-19 has created a hunger for something more, something deeper. May this restlessness not cause us to wander aimlessly, but to draw near to God. Questions like, "Are we all there when we are there?" When in the sanctuary for worship, do we zoom in, closing all doors of distraction, like 'being in a zone'? Are we totally attracted to, totally drawn in to what God is doing 'in church'? Or, are we having 'day dreams' about the upcoming lunch or the football game? What would be normal, abnormal, or 'new normal' about a worship service as we return to corporate worship after quarantine in this 2020 COVIT-19 pandemic? Last Fall, I attended an NFL game where there were some 70,000 fans in the stands. Today I watched part of an NFL game in which, due to pandemic protocols, the announcer indicated 7,500 in attendance. Whether private or public, there are a myriad of 'new norms' in every fabric of our society. In this pandemic season, we would do well to draw wisdom from the many analogical lessons of COVID-19. Lessons like distancing, masking, and washings. May I personally DISTANCE myself and my walk from all that defies God and threatens my spiritual health; May I personally wear a spiritual MASK to limit the spread of my human frailties as well as contribute to the harm of others. May the words of my mouth and all that I breathe in and breathe out be pleasing in God's sight. Although as a Christian, I have been WASHED and made clean by Christ's Sacrifice, I have a responsibility before God to walk in purity. O, my friends, I tell you, there's just no end to this spiritual muse of mine, and sometimes it seems to go on and on, but.......... 11012020PSCtest, Completely Your Choice(38), Brian Strand