A New Normal

“This shall pass.  Life as we knew it won’t be the same, but with faith I am not overwhelmed, dismayed or worried.”  It’s time to 

“Refocus, reconnect, realign and rejoice!”

~ Carl Hackney

“In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.”

~ Dave Hollis

During these days of quarantine, we have been given the time to be still, to clean and organize, to look at and evaluate our priorities, to find new ways to invest in others and express appreciation to people we too often overlook or take for granted.  Families are spending time together going on walks, riding bikes, eating together, and talking.  People are taking time to visit with their neighbors and check on people by phone, zoom, computer, or other creative methods. 

The following poem and quotes offer much to consider as we look at what we will keep, what we will get rid of, and what we will change in the coming days and years:

“The Great Realisation”

By British artist and poet “Probably Tomfoolery”

A young boy begged his father to once again, “Tell me the story about the virus” for his bedtime story.  After reading observations of what the world was like before the COVID-19 virus, the story continued…

…But then, in 2020, a new virus came our way.

The government reacted and told us all to hide away.

But while we all were hidden, amidst the fear

and all the while, the people dusted off their instincts.

They remembered how to smile.

They started clapping to say thank you.

And calling up their mums.

And while the car keys gathered dust

they would look forward to their runs.

And with the skies less full of voyagers,

the earth began to breathe.

And the beaches bore new wildlife

that scuttled off into the seas.

Some people started dancing, some were singing,

some were baking.

We’d grown so used to bad news

but some good news was in the making.

And so when we found the cure, and were allowed to go outside,

we all preferred the world we found to the one we’d left behind.

Old habits became extinct and they made way for the new.

And every simple act of kindness was now given its due.

Son:  But why did it take a virus

to bring the people back together?

Well, sometimes you've got to get sick, my boy,

before you start feeling better.

Now lie down and dream of tomorrow,

and all the things that we can do.

If you dream hard enough, who knows,

maybe some of them will come true.

We now call it “The Great Realisation”

and yes, since then there have been many.

But that’s the story of how it started,

And why hindsight’s 2020.

Chis Carrier recently received a surprise FaceTime call from his granddaughter, who was playing with her mother’s iPhone.  After a delightful visit, he concluded…

“Herein is God’s grace…

Be careful not to let your kids find your iPhones, b/c you never know who they might call or FaceTime.

Be sure to let your kids see and find your faith, b/c there’s no greater blessing than when our Father and our kids find one another.”

Alex Trebek, the host of “Jeopardy,” and his wife were recently interviewed by Survivor.  Trebek has been fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer for over a year.  He said he looks at these days as a “grand retreat.”  “As we take a much-needed break from all the business, agendas, routines, politics, we enter a time to learn new things, discover old hobbies … reorganize your house, and touch base with family and friends that you haven’t talked with in a while.”

Jean Trebek, Alex’s wife, responded, “Rather than concentrating on the things that are beyond our control, I feel that we’re each being asked to take a good look at ourselves and the lives we’ve been living, and perhaps use this time to give our inner world some vital attention.” 

“We will not go back to normal.  Normal never was.  Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack.  We should not long to return, my friends.  We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment.  One that fits all of humanity and nature.”

~ Brene Brown

As our country, state, and city slowly begin to open up again, may we remember the lessons of these days.  May we choose to implement the ones worth making part of our lives, be willing to let go of what entangles, and desire to embrace a new kind of normal.  It’s time to refocus, reconnect, realign and rejoice!

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Romans 7:6

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him her endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2