19 August 2020
A Moment to Reflect -85
“Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are; there cannot be one without the other, yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel, I remember wondering, to be always together yet forever apart?” ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
‘Always together yet forever apart.’ Reverse the order —forever apart yet still together — and you get how I’m beginning to feel about so many relationships these days, including the relationships within our congregation. (At least I hope the “always together” part is still valid.)
From the outset of this pandemic our congregation’s leaders have tried to do whatever they can to maintain the sense of community that existed before the lockdown began, endeavouring to keep in touch with one another by as many different means as we can think of. But inevitably some people are going to feel increasingly isolated. In the news yesterday there were reports about a very steep rise in the number of people suffering from depression and other forms of mental ill-health as a result of the current restrictions to human contact.
Since we are physical beings, any form of ‘physical distancing’ is bound to have an adverse effect on how we feel—to what extent will depend upon our different life experiences, ages and personalities. But it’s worth reminding ourselves that we are not only physical beings: we are also spiritual beings.
In fact as the scientist-theologian, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, once put it: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” ― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Reflect for a moment on the things that make you feel close to others even when forced to be apart.
