“Normal led to this.” Ed Yong, science journalist
Friends,
Five years ago, the world changed rapidly and dramatically. It was a time of great uncertainty and fear. It was a time of great ingenuity and adaptability.
It was March of 2020 when businesses,stores, schools, and churches shut down and people who could, went into isolation. Staying away from other people offered protection from the novel coronavirus that was quickly becoming a pandemic. Life moved from in person spaces to online spaces. Closets, spare bedrooms, and dining room tables became home offices while public buildings stood empty. Front door delivery of the things we need for day to day life became the norm.
As it approached, the year 2020 had promised to be a year of vision, perfect, 20/20 vision none the less. Surely, with such clear eyed vision, we could capably navigate the world’s challenges. Vision 2020 became the slogan for all kinds of marketing campaigns and fund-raising drives. How soon those hopes were dashed.
In August 2020, Ed Yong, a science journalist for The Atlantic, wrote, “We long to return to normal, but **normal led to this**. To avert the future pandemics we know are coming, we MUST grapple with all the ways normal failed us. We have to build something better.”
Economist, Mariana Mazzucato along with others said, “it is time to rethink capitalism,” and Melinda Gates was quoted as saying, “This pandemic has magnified every existing inequality in our society – like systemic racism, gender inequality, and poverty,”
They say hindsight is 20/20. Now that five years have passed, the lessons from the COVID pandemic seem more urgent than ever.
The role of religion in society has been to stand outside the norm, to push against the status quo. Unitarian Universalism has a long history of dissent, speaking out against oppressive theologies and oppressive practices in religion and in society. Yet, the urge to return to “normal” can be strong – especially as dramatic change swirls around us once again.
This month, marking 5 years of living with COVID, can be a time for taking stock of what we have learned about ourselves and our world. It can be a time of remembering the pain, loss, grief, and confusion. It can be a time of remembering what so many of us saw so vividly then – the wide chasms of division brought about by all the inequities in society.
It can also be a time of remembering just how inventive and resilient we can be. It can be a time for refocusing our vision, imagining a better world and then working to build it. Mostly, it is a time to resist the urge to return to normal, because we now know with clarity that normal is what led us to where we are today.
This is a time for drawing strength from our religious ancestors who were critics and dissenters. They called not for a return to normal, but a return to life-affirming values of love and care for all. May it be so with us.
Yours in shared ministry,
Rev. Diane
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