So, we now have an idea of what our next few weeks will look like -another week of level 4, then into level 3 for a fortnight. And it seems to me the key requirement being asked of us is around responsibility. I don’t think I have ever before consciously looked at the link between responsibility and trust, but it has always been an expectation of God’s people. Back in the rules given to the people of Israel, found in Deuteronomy 2, it is clear -Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
It is clear -whether at home in your bubble or heading out, we are to be trustworthy in our responsibility. Our country needs us to behave with responsibility and we are being trusted to do so. It is a mature way of behaving. It reminds me of parenting -as children grow and they start to make decisions for themselves, you have this basis of morality that you have taught and you then have to trust that as you let go the proverbial apron strings, they will behave accordingly. In our COVID 19 reality, we have been taught, over and over, to be kind, and we have been taught what that kindness will look like. Now as the freedom is increased, it is up to us to show that we have learned kindness and can be trusted to behave responsibly. We must not go thinking we can have two different ways to measure -one for me and one for others. It is that simple -and yet that difficult. I suspect the difficulty is in our ego -that we somehow think we should be the exception. Perhaps then building on from patience in this lockdown experience, is humility. Seeing the other as just as important as self. Time will tell what we have learnt.
The picture below is part of a major creative effort of Reuben this weekend -building the Beehive out of lego -this floor depicting what has become a familiar and reassuring event in our lives in lockdown.
