Dear friends,

A friendly reminder: “doing your best” does not mean

working yourself to the point of a mental breakdown. (Source unknown)

Perhaps the “new normal” is starting to settle in for some of us now? Maybe the frenetic activity is slowing down? Or maybe we don’t notice that happening for us yet? I think something that I am learning – again – is that it’s ok to feel confused and overwhelmed. It’s ok for my feet to be paddling furiously underwater whilst on top of the water it looks like I’m gliding gracefully. And I am aware that you might be feeling pretty much the same.

With the rapid escalation of circumstances around COVID-19 in the last two weeks, our face-to-face gatherings have been cancelled or moved online. As a result, many of us are left feeling sad, feeling lost, stressed and anxious. 

In a recent press conference, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison described what we are facing as a 1 in 100 year event. Which is true, the last time the world saw something like this it was in 1918 with the outbreak of the Spanish flu. And a key difference between now and then is social media, technology and software that allows all of us to experience this whole thing together - at once. We aren’t just seeing what is happening in our pocket of the world, we are experiencing these events over and over again. And in the midst of all this we are physically losing the connection to places and people in our lives that are our community and identity.

Dear friends,

“What a year this week has been!”

This was a meme I saw on Facebook – one amongst many that seek to express the bewilderment people are experiencing. Things are changing around us at a rate that seems to leave us with increasing uncertainty, and possibly fear and anxiety. We can be left reeling when we consider that only a few days ago we were still allowed to gather at a café or restaurant and for worship, even if there were some new rules about numbers and how close we could sit next to each other. Now walking down the street the cafes seem like empty shells, with forlorn staff members wistfully watching passersby, hoping someone will come in to order a takeaway coffee.

For looking after ourselves. For looking after each other. For making choices for the marathon, not the sprint.

Rev. Bill Crews was on the The Project last night to discuss how The Loaves & Fishes Restaurant at Ashfield Uniting Church is managing to keep serving free meals to folks sleeping rough during this trying and unprecedented time.

Rev. Simon Hansford, Moderator of Synod NSW & ACT speaks about what it means to be Church in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Rev. Andrew Johnson, UNSW Chaplain & Minister at Hope Uniting Church talks about a few practical ways that he approaches prayer.

Dear friends,

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

― Julian of Norwich

Which leads me into the quote that I usually also attribute to Julian of Norwich, however the reliable source of all information (Google) tells me it was actually John Lennon:

“All will be well in the end. If all is not well, it is not the end.”