Rev. Dale Edwards: ​Pandemic Reflection #1

As most of you know, about a month ago I cut my left thumb nearly off in a table saw accident.  It was reattached but because of a splint contraption, I have not been able to drive, and keyboarding is laborious. I was forced to slow down about three weeks before the pandemic, and had already begun to reflect on a more restricted life for several weeks. 

In a new world of restriction, I have been exploring what God would do with a world that is in a "great pause" or "reboot". What should occur in myself and what can happen in broader society?

Two thoughts have crossed my mind the last few weeks concerning my individual self:  One, how can I pray in a deeper way for the world, pleading for God's common grace to prevail.  Two, how can every thought I think be pleasing to God. 

For Lent this year, I did not engage in my usual practice of reading through the Gospels. Instead, I began reading through the Minor Prophets. As the pandemic continues, I find richness in the Minor Prophets. There is always the call for God's people to return to Him, and live lives of mercy and caring toward others.   For the Church, this societal "great pause" possibly brings space to examine ourselves and repent of our shallowness, bad habits, and outright sin. Outwardly it is a season to express Christ's love in the most faithful and practical ways. Can the whole Body of Christ be a non-anxious presence, forgoing fear, and self-centeredness, not succumbing to reactive thinking and actions? 

Maybe the "great pause" could be a great cleansing.

In Jesus name,
Dale