With the Covid 19 pandemic, millions of people all the over the world have to practice social distancing and to reduce physical contact with one another. This can be very stressful and a heavy burden but we have a choice to turn this time into an invitation and opportunity to practice solitude and silence to "reset" our minds so that our hearts may be more in tune with the heartbeat of God. We can choose to use this time in the season of Lent to Embrace God Only and to confess that we have been Edging God Out.
In times of illness, disasters and tragedies, we are driven to find answers for our predicament. Like the disciples of Jesus, we read in chapter 9 of the gospel of John, that they asked Jesus why a man was born blind:
"While Jesus was walking, he saw a man who had been blind since the time he was born. Jesus’ followers asked him, “Teacher, why was this man born blind? Whose sin made it happen? Was it his own sin or that of his parents?” John 9:1-2 ERV
But Jesus answered:
“It was not any sin of this man or his parents that caused him to be blind. He was born blind so that he could be used to show what great things God can do. John 9:3 ERV
When we see things from a humanistic and religious perspective that is focused on obedience to the law we are blind to the unseen presence of God and the hidden action of His amazing grace. The faith of the Pharisees was a second hand faith:
"We are followers of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don’t even know where this man comes from!” John 9:29 ERV
They were blind to the miraculous signs of God at work in the blind man because of their bondage to the law - “That man does not obey the law about the Sabbath day. So he is not from God.” John 9:16
Jesus came to set us free from living a life that is in bondage to rules and regulations so that we can live the life of freedom that comes from loving God, others and ourselves. The meaning of all the laws and writings of the prophets is to draw us to Jesus Christ, our Shepherd of Love. We are to love others as the evidence of our love for God:
"Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us." 1 John 4:11-12 NLT
However, we cannot truly love others unless we love ourselves - not to satisfy our lustful desires - but out of gratitude for being the beloved of God. Like the man who was born blind, we will then have a first hand testimony of how God loves us and has been at work in our lives:
"The man answered, “This is really strange! You don’t know where he comes from, but he healed my eyes. We all know that God does not listen to sinners, but he will listen to anyone who worships and obeys him. This is the first time we have ever heard of anyone healing the eyes of someone born blind. This man must be from God. If he were not from God, he could not do anything like this.” John 9:30-33 ERV
In these troubled times when the world is in turmoil and darkness and future is uncertain and unpredictable, we need the Light of Christ that can only be found in the darkness of faith that lies beyond our feeling, thinking, understanding and beliefs. We need to confess our pride of knowledge and to pray for wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Anthony de Mello had written about the greatest need of the church:
"The Church is passing through a period of chaos and crisis. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A crisis is a challenge to grow. Chaos precedes creation - provided, and this is a big proviso, the Spirit of God is hovering over it.
The greatest need of the Church today is not new legislation, new theology, new structures, new liturgies - all these without the Holy Spirit are like a dead body without a soul. We desperately need someone to take away our hearts of stone and give us a heart of flesh; we need a fresh infusion of enthusiasm and inspiration and courage and spiritual strength. We need to persevere in our task without discouragement or cynicism, with new faith in the future and in the people we work for. In other words, we need a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit."
We can use this time of social distancing to wait on God and for the Holy Spirit to pour God's love into our hearts. In this time of chaos and anxiety, we will have many opportunities to experience the grace of God. Anthony de Mello warns us that without the leading of the Holy Spirit we will be lying witnesses or pushers who are insecure people with a compulsion to convince others so that they themselves will be less insecure.
Let us encourage one another to Embrace God Only by waiting on God and sharing how we have experienced God's love and grace in our struggles, doubts and fears in these turbulent times.
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