I am living in a different world.
I knew that. After over a half century of living in the United States we are now living in Canada. Shortly after arriving a friend told us that moving to Canada from the US is like coming home and finding that someone has rearranged everything in your house.
And for the longest time, that was the case.
But now? Now there is a sense that we are no longer living in the same world.
That has been one of the revelations of the Coronavirus. We have seen it daily. Pretty much every day at lunch we watch as our prime minister Justin Trudeau comes out to address the nation. He has been described as our own Mr. Rogers! He comes down the stairs of his home, tells us the reality of where we are, what the government is doing but then reassures us that “we are going to get through this, together.”
Then later in the day we watch (well, I do. My dear wife can no longer tolerate it) as President Trump builds a reality totally devoid of fact, promising that this virus will “magically disappear,” touting remedies that most 4th graders could rebut. There is no empathy for the 100,000+ victims. The only thing that matters is getting the economy going again, no matter the cost!
Recently it has become more personal as last week President Trump all but demanded that churches be reopened. There had already been churches that have defied shut-down orders, re-opening often to disastrous results. But churches are essential the president declared, just like restaurants and tattoo parlors!
I have watched as American colleagues have sought ways to respond. Every pastor I know is struggling with the when and how of this pandemic. I know pastors who are feeling pressure from parts of their congregations to return to normal, to have services with choirs and the passing of plates and communion.
At the same time, I have friends in numerous cities who have joined with fellow religious leaders writing proclamations that they will re-open when the science and health leaders say it is safe.
Suddenly in my home country, science has become political. If you believe the science then we know who you are!
Contrast that with the webinar I experiences this week from Canada. Put together by Global Leadership Canada, it was an opportunity for religious leaders across the country to hear from the Medical Director of Nova Scotia, Dr. Robert Strang.
What hit me was the mood. Those attending were men and women connected to religious groups. A third have seen their funding decrease due to Covid-19. The truth is that some will not survive, and that is real. Even so there wasn’t a sense of panic. There wasn’t a demand that religious centers be allowed to re-open. Instead, there was a sense of respect of science, of truth, of each other.
The words from Dr. Strang were real. Right off the bat he said that we can forget about “going back to normal.” As he said, “it is not going to be the same, but how can we make it better?” We said that we will be living with this virus until there is herd immunity of a vaccine, at least 1- years. Even when we re-open we will need to maintain social distancing, about 6 feet between family units. This virus may never go away, but become something similar to the seasonal flu, or measles. It will be something to live with.
Let’s be honest, these were hard words to hear! There are all kinds of questions. What about Sunday School and childcare? How can we assure that restrooms are cleaned after every use?
It would have been easy to give into the panic, the nostalgia, at this point. But instead….
Instead there was a sense of challenge. I keep going back to his opening words, how can we make it better? How can we find the balance between CHURCH and church, the institution and our calling? How can we structure ourselves differently to meet the spiritual void in our lives? How do we work to rebalance the material and spiritual worlds?
As he closed, Dr. Strang called on us to remember that we are called to be “Caring Communities with Common Sense.” I like that! Part of that caring might be a time of giving up for the greater good of the community, of us all. It was so Canadian!
His final challenge to us was one that will stay with me for a long time, and I hope with you. He said that this virus has revealed some cracks in our society that have been growing for a long time, cracks of inequity, food insecurity, gaps in healthcare, the way we treat our most vulnerable. His hope is that we will not just pave over them, but rather look at ways to address the differences. His final words, “we need to work to make food banks unnecessary,”
His words, the mood of the audience revealed a huge gap between what I am am experiencing from afar in my home country and the home where I live. It is a gap of truth and compassion and trust and community. I do pray that one day it might be addressed as well. It is a crack that can’t be just paved over!