Friday…oh yeah, Good Friday

10 April 2020

Life in the pandemic has changed everything.  This is Holy Week.  This is like no Holy Week I have ever seen before.  Truth be told this week is not like any other week (except for the past four weeks) that I ever experienced before.

Normally, I would have been to church last night for Maundy Thursday service. A Maundy Thursday service at my house of worship is normally a celebration of the last supper with a full communion and the use of a common chalice. In these times sitting crowded together and then drinking from the same cup make absolutely no sense.  I am sure the Trinity is okay with this.  God didn’t give us free will to let us die simply because of following symbolic ritual. If you are a believer then Easter is in your heart whether you are in a church building or not.

In a normal year I would be at church tonight and then also on Sunday.  Tonight, would have been the Tenebrae service, or as it is described in the worship folder, a service of gathering darkness. This very solemn and austere service is one of my favorites of the year.  My understanding is that the service will be broadcast tonight starting at 7:30. Still, watching it online is not the same as sitting in the church with the candles and lights being extinguished over a span of about 45 minutes. There will be no Sunday service with all the bright robes and full choir.  Again, I don’t believe in a magic Jesus that will be pissed because I opted for social distancing. That whole ‘Do unto others…’ thing, I think that covers not giving or receiving the coronavirus by being packed into a church with Chreasters (those who only show up for Christmas and Easter).

So many things have changed. The closure of the physical structures of church communities is only one aspect of the huge shifts in our societal behavior.  This afternoon I expect there will be a delivery of dry groceries by UPS.  Also, this afternoon I am expecting a delivery from the pharmacy of some medications.  I don’t remember the last time I experienced delivery service like this.  As best I can recall, it was back in the day when Nipe’s Dairy would deliver milk in Pedricktown.  I vaguely remember there might have been bread delivery also. 

What happens when the powers that be attempt to reopen this world?  Will we have become accustomed to delivery services?  Will having drugs and groceries dropped at the house become the new norm as we wait for the preparation for a vaccine? Will we retain habits of cooking at home thus decimating the hospitality industry?  What stores and restaurants will have folded before the all or partially clear signal is raised because they just didn’t have the resources to hold on?  How many people will fail to return to churches and other civic activities because they have become accustomed to not going? How will we approach travel going forward?  Will we have to be screened to see if we have a temperature on every trip segment before we enter an airplane?

And what about elections?  Will there be a national call for mail in balloting?  Will there be some addressing of the mechanics of elections nationwide, elections that don’t require face to face contact? I don’t know. What I do know is that the world will look different after this pandemic.  

I think after the pandemic we should be thinking about how we source our goods and products.  Should we ever be in a spot again where we do not have the capability to produce our own the medical equipment, personal protective equipment and supplies in a timely manner?  Should we ever be in a spot where we cannot rely on our own manufacturing capabilities to provide any essential services? 

What about how we treat people working in essential services like groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, farm fields and the list goes on.  How do we ensure the people picking our oranges and the people who are stocking are shelves are kept healthy?  As the pandemic wanes we will have to look at what worked in our health care system and what didn’t.  Then we will need to address the issues and fix the problems. 

I think, that for a time at least, after the pandemic there will be no going back to the normal that existed prior to January 2020.

For thoughts on past Easters follow this link,
https://onetruenorthspace.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-memories-are-complicated.html