Page 2 - Contact Summer 2020
P. 2
T HE NE W
N OR M AL
We are hearing a lot about what the new
normal might look like whenever the more
severe elements of lockdown end. Many of
us are guessing what that will look like and
seeking to retain some of the better elements
of the lockdown – a slower pace of life, more
sleep, more time to spend with family or to
read. But there have been many parts of the
lockdown which have taken their toll on us
mentally. Some have been sleeping less and
instead of being more rested they have been
more anxious. Some will nd that they have And what of those who are shielding or who
lost their jobs and for others their jobs have are older or who have ongoing underlying
gone from being located in a busy oce with health issues – will they risk coming out to
all its social interaction to working alone from church? It could be a long time before we see
home. The merging of work and home life is the High Kirk sanctuary crowded again and I
not an easy one and once the novelty wears must admit this lls me with sadness.
o, it has its challenges.
Certainly the elders are praying and thinking
So for each of us the new normal will look through how we can make the church
slightly dierent, at least until we have a experience the best we can as restrictions
vaccine or sucient “herd immunity” to are lifted but it could be some time before
enable the virus to burn out. As someone we can gather in the same manner as we
has said this is not just an interruption but a did in early March.
disruption of our lives.
But if we can gather in the near future let us
What of the church? We are three months make the most of it. May the new normal for
into a ban on mass gatherings and we are all us be a celebration of those elements that
missing each other terribly and missing formerly perhaps we took for granted. I have
corporate worship. Online services (or CD’s been struck again by the number of times the
and DVD’s) are good but cannot compare word “together” is mentioned in Acts 2:42-
with the real thing. We are still unsure when 47 – a passage which many of us use as the
the government will allow church gatherings template for what we do as church – worship,
inside a building and even then there will fellowship, teaching, service and evangelism.
probably be regulations regarding social These elements go to make up what church
distancing and maybe a ban on is and at the heart of it are people who are
congregational singing. together.
