There is always a hint of the real in the absurd, and there is no greater absurdity than the humour we all share. It’s the absurdity melded with reality that makes it so funny — if you didn’t laugh, you’d probably be drawn out on an ebb tide on the sea called Despair.
Life was already uncertain enough in 2019, and within the first two months of a new decade we could all see the Tsunami heading our way. And like all tsunamis, where we always underestimate the water’s insistent, tenacious, ever-flowing power, “the pandemic” has shifted every axis known to humankind.
What should never have taken us by surprise, as tsunamis do, has taken every country by complete astonishment. The politicians who are trustworthy are honest about it and are understandably hypercautious. Those who still aren’t convinced won’t be convinced if another 200,000 or two million or twenty million perish. But history will judge them harshly.
When we’ve seen the tsunami go past us, perhaps from a high enough altitude that we saw its destruction, but we were safe, we still wait for its ebb tide before we can truly see the devastation that needs our cleaning up. We have little idea at the present stage when the waters continue to protect the sight of what will leave us dumbstruck for some time when they recede. 2021 may well be a doozy!
How many of us haven’t been locked down for at least a month of this year? For some, it’s been several months. For many it’s been in and out of restrictions. And it’s not over yet! If countries were shown to be ill-prepared, how does the average householder fare? The social ramifications are still pretty much unknown.
There have been the initial shocks to deal with and to adjust to. Yet, so much of life will not for a long time, if ever, return to how it was. This is our task today; to accept that life’s new normal is so continuously new that our best adjustment is to continue to adjust.
But as we look at the nature of life, it’s always been uncertain.
It’s always promised us surprises when we least expected them.
We only need to mention the word ‘loss’.
‘Loss’ just seems mighty closer than it’s ever been... to most.
Those who have been close to loss for a long time are not as surprised by the developments of 2020, even if their outlook on life has taken a dive. Loss was never out of reach for these. And perhaps there is a hope in those who’ve always been close to loss, who have always faced anxious times, who have always faced down depression, because suddenly the world has descended to a familiar place for them. At least 2020 feels awkwardly familiar.
For others who have suffered inordinately, there isn’t much relief in these times that promise a new normal that can’t be adjusted to. Many things won’t be back to ‘normal’ for at least a few years to a decade — at that rate there is no new normal, only a constant state of flux — paradoxically, a new normal further from normal than ever.
In a world of spin and innuendo, where divisions of persons and groups regard that THEY alone are the truth-holders — in this highly divisive and outrage-craven life — we are more suspicious than ever. More and more we’ve been betrayed by those we once would have trusted without thought. Is there any wonder conspiracy theories get legs and their theorists’ profit?
The bedrock of life in this world is the paradox that this life is fleeting, and eternity is the only sure reality. Even more than ever it will profit the person who holds their hopes aloft before the Lord of all creation. Many more will understand than ever.
In a year when so many things came to a grinding halt, God’s purposes still reign. It’s up to us to find that hope, cling to it, show others the way, and behave with dignity, integrity and valour. Nothing else matters.
There is a hope beyond depression, beyond lethargy and apathy, beyond boredom and loneliness; that hope is enshrined in the concept of purpose. And there is no purpose that gives us hope than the purpose that believes in breath and life and meaning in every age independent of what state the world is in.
God is doing us a favour to withdraw us from our comfort so we can learn to rely on him. 2020 has heralded a new normal called ‘opportunity’ — those who embrace it will succeed. Nothing will defeat the hope in those who cling to what will never be overcome.
Photo by Iluha Zavaley on Unsplash
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