Yesterday I did my one permitted walk for exercise – a short circuit down the Belfast Road, left onto the Dromore Road, another left onto the Springhill Road and a tight left onto Inn Road before heading back along the Belfast Road to home.
Criss-crossed the road a few times to avoid people, apologising for appearing rude, and nothing particularly spectacular happened along the way but I did see a heart warming sight which reminded me of a piece of scripture. I’ll come to that in a minute.
Undoubtedly this is a time of challenge and change. If I had a pound for every cliche spoken or written by our media about what is going on then a swanky holiday could be planned for when this pandemic has passed.
Alas I don’t, but while I have not become money rich, nor have I become time poor – suddenly a lot of people have a considerable amount of time with which to fill their day; we’ve been gifted time that won’t always be apparent.
So I thought I’d give you something to think about as you decide which room in the house you will occupy today – maybe you fancy a mini-break in the kitchen from the humdrum and tedium of the living room?
What I saw on my walk was a family (mum, dad and two young kids) leaving the outside of a house and lovingly waving to elderly relatives as they stood with their faces almost pressed up against the double glazing. The family was practicing social distancing to ensure the older couple were not experiencing complete social isolation!
As the family left they kept turning around and waving until they were eventually out of sight. The double glazing physically separated the vulnerable from the not so vulnerable but love penetrated the glass in a clear (pun intended) and beautiful way. Love defeated the virus by being able to express itself despite a physical barrier; in much the same way as Zoom, FaceTime and WhatsApp are doing in their own ways. We stay connected.
God immediately reminded me of the verses from Romans 8 which regrettably we only often hear at funerals and which really are verses for our times:
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s love too penetrates the ‘double glazing’ that are the world’s imperfections, whether it is an invisible threat in the form of a virus or a visible danger like a raging earthquake. God’s love is the greatest power in all creation and his son Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary is the visible representation of that love. Thankfully, as I’ve said before God doesn’t do social distancing and nor does He reign in isolation. Indeed we are invited into his courts and do so with praise!
Nothing can separate us from his love and furthermore you don’t have to keep looking back over your shoulder to see it, for God’s love resides within those who believe in the Son.
Just a thought… Blessings, Carlton.