This is some of the vocabulary of our COVID 19 caused pandemic. Imagine the fun Roget could have had with all these words! As I (and probably you) tire of this replay of language, I would welcome a “thesaurusitic” change to many of these words.
Although these words are in no particular order, it seems to me one word I have heard daily since we began to take this virus seriously enough to drastically alter our lifestyle, is the word “weird.” Breathing down weird’s neck, it seems, is the word “strange.” Maybe both those words sum up the entire experience if not the vocabulary.
Missing in action have been the words transformation, growth, better, optimism, cheerfulness, confidence, trust, joy, and other similar words of hope. Mostly the vocabulary has been trying to express our anxiety about it all and our lack of experienced navigational skills in such new waters. Many are words, acronyms, and names of things new to us (PPE) or our way of living (curb service). Yes, weird pretty much does it. No wonder we seem to so frequently turn to it to succinctly express our feelings.
There is another word we can employ: legacy. What will the legacy of this experience be for us as individuals and us as a congregation, a community, and a nation? Legacies don’t usually just happen, they are built. What might we be able to construct to pass along to future generations that might be helpful in a way that makes some part of living better? I offer no solutions, only something for you and for us to think about and consider. Let’s leave more for our grandchildren than stories of Lysol shortages and waiting in line to get into COSTCO.
We are people of God, we are followers of Jesus. Surely we can search our own depths for insights of faith and living to pass on. This has been a “teachable moment” we might say. Let the taught themselves become the teacher. We too have a vocabulary. Some of our words overlap with the pandemic language. Our words are faith, hope, trust, pray, love, care, blessed are, forgiveness, eternal, grace, peace, joy, and so on. Overriding these words and giving them power is this word, a name: Jesus. This word, this name is our ultimate navigational tool in this and any time. It is our ultimate teacher whom the taught can pass along and teach. Let’s not allow weird to alone be what might become our legacy of this time. Let the faith that might touch us and transform us if only a little be a major part of legacy for this time.