The Distraction(s) Return

There were advantages and opportunities in 2020. We generally did not think of them that way. No gatherings. No parties. No graduations. No comings and goings. No quick trips here or unplanned trips there. 

Ones working conditions largely depended on what kind of industry you were in and where you lived. Urban centers with mostly white collar workers saw an exodus. All those people staying away from office towers and industrial parks had an impact on other downstream businesses. The service sector (restaurants in particular) suffered damage which will require years of rebuilding. 

I just kept coming down the hill. I studied scripture. Wrote sermons and lessons. Added additional online opportunities for our congregation. This experience seems to be pretty typical for most preachers. We may have had to do much of our preaching online but generally we did more of it and the time and energy spent in preparing is the same regardless of the medium used to present the message. 

Another positive? Covid kept the normal distractions from monopolizing our time for worship and spiritual growth. There was nothing else happening most weekends. The worship may have been online but you were able to join in without the risk of distraction. If you decided to spend more time in reading the Bible the same truth applied. If you were furloughed or layed off  from work you had more time to read the Bible. You could spend time learning a subject in detail. You could catch up on correspondence. 

We live in a distraction-defined age. Most of us look forward to “nothing happening.” The last year provided an opportunity to ask ourselves “What would I choose to do, when there is nothing else I can do?” And now that the end of the pandemic blooms around us we have a different choice to make. Summer is once again  coming. The “normal” is peeking over the horizon. More to do means more distractions to process, more choices to choose, more alternatives to consider. 

Yes, it was an unprecedented and difficult year. It was also a year without many of those distractions which keep Christians from the practices of discipleship and growth. We only have so much time. Choosing how we will use our time means setting priorities and making choices. We have had an entire year to consider what is truly important. Have we? Have you? 

  The distractions are returning. How we respond contributes to the final estimate of the outcome of the pandemic. If we return to a process in which we are only always distracted by the next thing which catches our attention, if we fail to set meaningful priorities enforced with sometimes difficult and unpopular decisions, if we fail to consider the long-term consequences of our choices; we will have taken one year off and several steps back.