Romans 12:2
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
As most states are now moving into new phases of reopening after quarantine, many of us are feeling a mix of excitement, anticipation, nervousness, and fear. This summer will certainly be different than any we’ve experienced before, but by now the feeling of everything being different and uncertain is becoming familiar. As much as we have been longing for things to reopen, somehow reaching a certain date on the calendar doesn’t guarantee that we feel safer than we did the day before. In some ways, being told that everything was off limits was easier because the decision was already made for us. Now we are navigating a confusing landscape of trying to keep ourselves and others safe while resuming some level of normalcy. Welcome to the new normal.
Much has been said about this “new normal” and I don’t feel the need to add many words to that conversation. We all know that things will be different in the world going forward. Too much has happened this year for everything to go back to exactly how it used to be. This will be one of those historical lines in the sand, the way we talk about pre- and post-World War II or pre- and post-9/11. What we can’t know yet is how things will be different, and the people who claim to are making educated guesses to fill air time.
What I find to often be missing from this conversation is to remember that together we are shaping what the new normal will look like. I may not have much influence as an individual on public policy decisions, and I cannot decide if the people around me will wear masks in the grocery store or follow social distancing recommendations. But if I avoid taking a hard look at myself and my personal choices, then I am missing an important opportunity.
The circumstances around the covid-19 pandemic have interrupted life for all of us in different ways. While this has been challenging and inconvenient, interruptions are also chances to pause, reflect, and choose a direction. Life can start to take on a sense of inertia, and from day to day we might not reflect on which direction all that momentum is carrying us. Now that we have been forced to stop, we can restart by intentionally choosing the way we want to go. Even if that direction is exactly the same as we were headed before, it is valuable to pause, reflect, and choose to continue.
I’m asking myself what I have learned through this experience. My husband and I have talked at length about which priorities rose instantly to the surface when so many of our usual distractions were stripped away. It stands to reason that our priorities in a crisis are a clear indication of what our priorities should be once the crisis has passed. That kind of clarity will quickly start to disappear unless we pause to give voice to them or write them down.
If having extracurricular activities canceled felt like a relief and the additional family time felt like a gift, then maybe you have learned that your family would benefit from reducing the number of activities on your calendar in the future. If the crisis created financial strain or worries, then maybe looking over your budget (or creating one if you don’t have one) and setting a goal to save money in an emergency fund is a priority for the future. If time apart gave you a new appreciation for the role of friends in your life, then maybe carving out time for regular get-togethers is something you should talk about together. Whatever it is that you have learned about yourself and your loved ones, let it guide you in forming your next season of life.
Do not be afraid to be transformed or to have your mind renewed, but rather allow God to speak to you through your circumstances to lead you into what he has for you next. Let’s not be in such a hurry to get life back to normal that we fail to question if that normal is worth returning to.
Moment of Beauty
Continuing on the theme of choosing your path with intention, enjoy the words of this familiar poem by Robert Frost.
The Road Not Taken
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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