Thought for the day – Thursday 2nd July 2020
I have just completed my first on-line course! (more of which I will tell you in further Thoughts for the Day).
I haven’t been given the marks and comments on my Assignment yet, so I might not feel quite so pleased with myself, when I have received those! Studying on-line was a new experience for me and a launch into unknown technological territory. I felt fairly confident about the subject matter, Art and Theology, but much less so, as to how to access it. After some aborted attempts, I finally managed to Log-in successfully, and then began the process of navigating my way around the course site, trying to follow unfamiliar instructions that used words that I did not understand. But I did it, and got used to, not only the system, but contributing to the discussion forum, and actually enjoying the experience, by the end of the course.
Beginning something new, or entering into uncharted territory is always unnerving. We remain out of our comfort zone until we get used to our new surroundings or routines. Imagine how Joshua felt when after wandering around the wilderness as second in command to Moses, for 40 years, Moses died, and the realization dawned, that he, Joshua, , would be the one leading the Israelites, finally, into the Promised Land. He must have been a quivering wreck as God showed him a strange and unfamiliar landscape, and said, ‘Lead my people there!’
But Joshua wasn’t abandoned and left to work out the way for himself. God told him what to do and how to do it, and where to go, with the command, ‘Be strong, and of good courage; do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’ (Joshua 1:9)
We are all facing uncharted and unknown territory as the Lockdown eases and we discover a ‘new normal’ way of living. For each of us this will be a slightly different experience, but for all of us it will be unfamiliar and will demand courage, trust and faith. Just as complete Lockdown was a new and frightening experience, yet from it emerged amazing accounts of kindness and courage, so will the ‘new normal’ have it’s share of binds and blessings.
My father, the Rev Harry Breakspear, was for much of his ministry, an Army Chaplain. As a Chaplain, he did not bear arms, but had a cross on his cap badge, with the words, ‘In this sign conquer’. As we face a new stage in the battle against Coronavirus, may we face it strong in the knowledge that we go forward in the name of Christ, and walk with faith and courage into an unknown territory believing God’s promise that he will be with us wherever we go. If we trust in his strength, and heed his commands, we might ourselves become God’s transformed people of kindness and courage through unknown territory!