One of the consequences of the spread of the Coronavirus, apart from its health effects, is isolation. The advice is that, if we are feeling unwell, we should self-isolate for 14 days to limit the potential spread of this virus. At the same time, people are choosing to limit their social interactions to try and protect themselves from possible exposure. Some schools have already closed for short periods of time and other institutions may follow.

I’m all for doing what it takes to keep our community safe and we have implemented some safety procedures at our Church Services. But I’m also aware that isolation is not without problems. We are social beings. Positive supportive relationships with friends, family, and God are an important resource for coping with any difficult situation. In particular, maintaining the continuity of these relationships in the midst of chaos is a significant source of strength. This crisis is disrupting our connections with one another so that some are left feeling alone and reliant on their own finite resources. An irony of the Coronavirus pandemic is that we become disconnected from others at the very time that we most need to maintain those connections.

However, I am reminded in the bible that even if we are cut off from every human system of care and protection, we can never be cut off from God’s care and protection. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 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" (Romans 8:35-39).

Perhaps now is the time to establish or strengthen our connection with him.

Neil Percival