Today is a sad day for so many people. It is exactly 12 months since the UK entered the first “Lockdown” as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is an anniversary, but not one we would have wanted to have. At the time of writing nearly 150,000 people have Coronavirus infection on their death certificate.
However these people were and are much more than a number and a diagnosis on a piece of paper. Each individual was unique, had their own personality, their own interests, their own way of saying or doing things. Each one had some sort of relationship with another person. They were all either brothers or sisters, fathers or mothers, sons or daughters, friends or colleagues. And each one is deeply missed.
You may well have seen the adverts on the TV for today being a day for remembering and reflection. For those who are grieving, however, each day is a day of remembering. Each day starts and ends with a loved one shaped hole, and an empty chair.
We are invited today to take a minute to reflect, a moment to connect. There will be a minute’s silence at midday, and we are invited to shine a candle or lights at 8pm. This may be something you will find helpful or you may want to reflect in another way. However you spend today, let us all remember the policeman, the nurse, the careworker, the shopkeeper, the taxidriver, the busdriver, the doctor, the uncle or aunt, the parent or grandparent and many others who died form Covid-19.
A prayer from the Methodist Worship book
God our comforter, you are our refuge and our strength, a helper close at hand in times of trouble. Help us so to hear your word that our fear may be dispelled, our loneliness eased, and our hope reawakened. May your Holy Spirit lift us above our sorrow, to the peace and light of your constant love, through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen