As Covid restrictions ease and, at least legally, end completely in Guernsey after February 17th, and in the UK a couple of weeks later, there will be some of us feeling a bit nervous. The two-year long battle against this unseen but potentially deadly foe has taken its toll on us all, whether we have had Covid or not. Some have lost loved ones whilst many have been shielding, afraid of going out. We are grateful for one of the best vaccination records in the world and for all the care and oversight of our medical and Public Health teams, but it feels strange to be coming out of this pandemic with hundreds of cases in our islands and lots of new ones being discovered each day.
Taking baby steps out of the pandemic is a challenge to our faith, our hope, and our love. Our faith because we must choose not to let fear dominate us in the aftermath of all we have been through. Our trust in God means that we need to heed the many ‘fear nots’ in the Bible (some say that there are 366 – one for every day of the year and one for a leap year) and choose to be grateful for the amazing grace that has seen us through thus far and will take us forwards. Faith in our dedicated public health and medical teams is also well founded given their track record. And hope, because ultimately our hope is in God, his faithfulness, and his promises. The opposite of hope is despair and no good ever came out of that, so we don’t want to go there. Keeping a positive and hopeful attitude can see us through the most appalling difficulties if we put our trust in God, so as we climb up the other side of this viral valley it is needed more than ever.
Love means that we recognise that not everybody is travelling out of this pandemic at the same speed. Some feel very unsure, vulnerable, and uncertain, while others are bruised by grief, financial hardship, and loss. We can help one another by respect and patience and by simple words of encouragement that can lift a heavy load. Faith, hope and love may be the three main virtues of the Christian faith, but they make good sense for people of all faiths or of none as we move into the uncharted waters of recovery from a devastating global pandemic.
