The start of the new year 2020 looked promising. I remember watching fireworks hosted by cities all around the world and I thought to myself, this year has to be a year of change for me and perhaps for others too. But little did I know that change had a dark face to it. A simple yet deadly organism, scientifically classified as non living and thought to have been confined only to animals such as bats, found a way into humanity. We were bracing for one of the worst disasters of mankind. It had a name – the Corona Virus of 2019 aka Covid 19. And sadly we weren’t ready.
The disease has it’s origin in Wuhan, China. It has now exploded to other parts. News of cities under lock down, closed borders, worsening health, political unrest, cover-ups, economic losses and so on have become talk of the town. The future looked dire and any glimmer of hope quashed daily by an official count of deaths worldwide. And as of writing this blog, that number is more than 685000. Where are we heading to? Almost over night, the pandemic has thrust upon us a glossary of words we have rarely used. Words like lockdown, N95, self-isolation, social distancing, contact tracing, WFH, super-spreaders and flatten the curve.
Public gatherings have been banned. Churches moved online. Sunday worship are either streamed or on the new Zoom app. Does this mean the end of the traditional church as we know it? Only time will tell. To me physical buildings were always irrelevant. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27 that we as individuals make up the body of Christ. We are the Church and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Let this be our hope during these uncertain times.
