As government and health officials grapple with the question of how best to reopen the country and move forward, I think we should stop to ask ourselves, do we really want to go back to the way things were?
Oh there are plenty of things I miss. Gatherings with friends, the faces of my students, unrationed toilet paper. There are lost moments that are irreplaceable – concerts, sports seasons, celebrations, my daughter’s graduation. I am more than ready to emerge from the protective cocoon of my home. But I want to come out different. It would be supremely disappointing if, after months of being holed up, a caterpillar emerged with 16 legs and went back to eating leaves.
The disciples come to mind. After three years of traveling with Jesus, witnessing His miracles, performing mind-blowing acts with His authority, they encountered an event that shattered their expectations. And what did they do in response? They went back to fishing. Business as usual. I can’t imagine their hearts were in it, though, because when John said, “Hey, that’s Jesus on the beach!”, Peter couldn’t get to shore fast enough (John 21:1-7).
We’ve experienced something that has shattered our expectations on a global scale. Do we really want to go back to business as usual or do we want to take this opportunity to be transformed? To make the radical shift from caterpillar to butterfly?
One thing I hope we don’t lose is our sense that all life is precious, valuable, worth protecting and preserving. Regardless of your opinion about the response to the coronavirus, we’ve stayed home, surrendered our freedoms, shuttered our businesses, in a massive effort to save lives. How can we go back to considering some lives worth less than others, to considering some people worthless at all?
A tremendous possibility lies before us to be so much more than we were. It’s an invitation to come awake, to come alive, to begin again. This invitation is nothing new – God has been calling us to a ‘greater than’ life from the very beginning.
Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17
I cannot. I won’t go back to the way things were.
Gods promises are too good to turn away from.