This August’s Lockdown has been experienced quite differently from those we had last year. On the practical side of things, we were all much more equipped to hunker down and stay home than we were last year. New Zealanders are, on the whole, pretty respectful of the Government – even when we disagree with some decisions, we’re typically willing to cooperate to get things done. On the emotional side, the experience has been more complex. Even those of us who are quiet and private people by nature, who enjoy staying at home, may feel unsettled by the restriction of our taken for granted freedoms. We may find ourselves asking, how long is this pandemic going to interrupt and dislocate our lives, our communities, our employment, and our businesses? Where is this all headed?
Over the past few days I’ve been pondering why we only become concerned about freedom when it is our freedoms that are being taken away? The possibility of living in a world where vaccine passports are mandatory or where lockdowns and curfews can be announced at any moment is a terrifying thought. But many people in our world constantly live with such imposed restrictions. Think for a moment of the vast populations of people in our world who through no fault of their own have been forced to live in refuge settlements. Think of those who have been wrongfully imprisoned or unjustly condemned by regimes who care little for civil liberties. Closer to home, in our own nation, think of those whose choices and freedoms have been greatly limited by educational, economic, and social inequalities. Their freedoms, not just our own, should energise our concerns for justice and social liberty.
One of the underlying concerns throughout this pandemic has been our awareness that social and economic inequalities are growing worse. The number of billionaires worldwide has increased dramatically as wealthy entrepreneurs have reaped the financial benefits of the pandemic. This is a complex issue. To offer one obvious example, we benefit from the vaccines and medicines that are provided by pharmaceutical research and development. But the global pharmaceutical companies who dominate such research are not famous for their charity or even their respect of democratically elected governments! Ultimately profit is the goal for many companies. People who express concern that this pandemic is a pivotal time for our world need to be given space to discuss their concerns. They are not all conspiracy theorists, and many (though not all) of their concerns are legitimate.
My own sense of direction through this pandemic is to cooperate, as much as possible, with our government’s approach to caring for the overall wellbeing of New Zealand. Cooperation may include lockdowns, vaccinations, facemasks, and other precautions. Even if we don’t agree with all strategies, we all have a need to think and act responsibly. Do I agree with everything our government decides? No, I don’t. Do I think the reporting and opinion-pieces of our journalists have been nuanced enough? No, I don’t…but that is nothing new either! It is not helpful to think these avenues (political and media) are the only ways we can exercise responsible and caring citizenship. We need to commit ourselves to fostering a fair and equitable society. It is important not to be motivated by fear, anxiety, or scarcity, as these are impulses that very quickly cause us to surrender what freedoms we do have. Instead, we need to employ what freedoms we have to build up what is good, life-enhancing and positive in the world around us and to be defined by what we are for rather than what we are against.
It is still my conviction (naïve though it may be) that this pandemic is a time of critical change. It is one in which we are all required to dig deep and search ourselves to contribute as much as we can to a wiser, richer, more in balance world. Such a world is not the natural result of sitting on our hands and doing nothing. There are other forces at play that would see our world further characterised by division and greed, dishonest wealth and control. Remember that Jesus ultimately invites us to participate in the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom is a world in which there is justice, shalom (peace), and provision for all peoples and for all creation. We can only get there by aligning our will, our motivations, and our resources, to the heart of Jesus and the work of the Spirit. Yesterday, I was reminded of one of Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom as I prayed and looked out the window. Several sparrows sat nibbling in the branches of an overgrown Kale plant. Rather than pulling it out in Autumn, I left it there, along with many other plants supposedly past their “use-by date”, to provide stability for the soil and nourishment for the wildlife. Interestingly, Kale is related to the Mustard plant that Jesus used to describe the Kingdom of God. Jesus compared God’s Kingdom with a mustard seed that grows into a tree providing shelter to the birds of heaven. The life of God’s Kingdom is characterised by an abundant sharing of surplus. The Kale was expressing its God-given “Kaleness” by making itself available to the birds. As we follow Jesus into his way of life, and let our own lives become a source of overflow to others, we express our “God-givenness”. This requires some prayerful and practical intentionality as we shape our lives according to the blueprint of God’s “design”. We know the design; we see it in Jesus. We seek not only what we need, but allow for a surplus in our lives; whether that be measured in time, finance, materials, skills, and personal participation, all given for the good of our neighbourhood and wider world. Can you see your life growing and changing in that direction? Of course you want to! Ask God for the vision, awareness, commitment, patience, faith, hope and love to live in that direction.
I began with some sober reflections on the experience of the latest lockdown. The experience brings many different realisations and feelings to the surface of our lives. What we hope for, and yearn for, emerging from the restrictions of this period, is a more generous and abundant direction for each one of our lives. Such generosity and abundance are not impossible. There may need to be dramatic change (or repentance) in our how we live our lives, but such changes are possible because God is still the God who brings light out of darkness and new life from the grave.
