We are NOT all in the same boat.

Have you allowed yourself the luxury of thinking about "what's on the other side of this thing?"  A friend said that she had been thinking about "getting back to normal,” and then wondered what parts of "normal" she really wanted to get back to. How is God calling me to be different because I've walked through this experience? How is God calling US, the church, to be different?

The Apostle John was helping his readers assess their love of God.  He writes, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18)

Loving God, as John would have us do, involves being willing to see things from a different perspective, and then doing something about what we see.  While John urges His readers to abide in God to acquire God’s perspective, he also urges them to see life through the eyes of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

While we’ve all been going through a horrific experience together, we are NOT all experiencing the same thing.  I found this following anonymous thought today, and it made John’s words of loving others come alive:

“I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it's not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.

For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cup of coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial and family crisis

For some that live alone they're facing endless loneliness. While for others it is peace, rest and time with their mother, father, sons and daughters.

With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.

Some families of four just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of four saw $0.

Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk and eggs for the weekend.

Some want to go back to work because they don't qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others are very upset with those who break the quarantine.

Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday.

Some have experienced the near death of the virus; some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don't believe this is a big deal.

Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.

So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.  Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.
We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.”
(Unknown author)

So what’s on your ship?  What’s going to be your “new normal?” on the other side of the storm?  As life unfolds in the next few weeks/months and we begin to really see the storm damage all around us, how will you respond?  Will you have opportunity to give?  Most certainly you will. Will you be in need of help?  Please seek assistance and allow the body of Christ to live into God’s command to love one another well.

John states, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”  Let’s help the world see things from God’s perspective: one of love, generosity, and humility toward others.

- Lynn Black