Berks Christian School issued the following announcement on Apr. 8.
This is a strange time to be living, isn't it? As I write, we (and by "we" I mean all of us in the entire world) are in the middle of something unlike anything I've heard of, let alone experienced, in my life. COVID-19. The corona virus. Social distancing. Quarantine life.
So, so many words could be said about this experience. Most of us are probably already overloaded with words about the topic. We are all in our own way trying to make sense of it. Because as humans, aren't we always trying to make sense of things? I know for me, I feel like even hard things can be a little less hard if I could just understand them, understand something of the purpose or the meaning behind them.
I wish I had the perfect words to explain what all of this means for everyone. I wish I could put into words exactly what everyone needs in order to face this crisis and have that aha! moment - that bit of revelation that gives them a sense of meaning and enables them to face their present circumstances with renewed courage and hope.
Because really, isn't the knowledge of a bigger purpose what we need more than changed circumstances? The assurance that there is a point to all of this? Of course we want the corona virus to go away, and it is certainly right and good to pray that God will bring about healing and deliverance from this virus to the world. But in the meantime, what are we going to do to remain hopeful? To not be a victim of our circumstances?
Viktor Frankl, a neurologist, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, said these words: "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose." (This statement becomes even more powerful knowing it is coming from someone who lived through the worst of experiences, losing many of his close family members in Nazi concentration camps.)
The question then becomes, how do we find meaning and purpose? As Christians, we believe God is the Source of life, sovereign over the whole world. As the song goes, "He's got the whole world in His hands."
And yet, somehow for me, if I'm being really honest, it doesn't quite feel like enough to just tell myself, God is in control. I have purpose and meaning by trusting in Him. These statements are completely true, and actually I do think they're helpful on some level. But I have also been finding that situations like these, when the world as we knew it gets flipped upside down, have a way of teaching and revealing to us new things about ourselves. And it seems like there is a lot there, if we're willing to pay attention.
We're being forced to find a new normal. For some of us, the changes are more drastic than others. Life may feel strangely familiar but also brand new or maybe at times an odd and unpredictable combination of the two.
Here's the thing I've been finding perhaps most helpful in the quest for meaning and purpose: doing the things that make me feel like a person.
Writing is one of them for me. Writing provides an outlet for me to process the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between. When I write, somehow God works in me and changes me and tends to lead me to peace. Writing helps me clear my head and make better decisions. (Literally there was an instance this past week when I couldn't think clearly enough to decide what to make for supper, so I retreated to my room, wrote a few sentences in my journal, and suddenly it became very clear what I should do.)
The answer, though, is not writing itself. It's just that for me, writing for me is a way I connect with God. When I'm connected with God, life has meaning. And when life has meaning, that's when I feel like a person. It happens when I write, but it can also happen when I'm folding laundry or playing the piano or even noticing the birds singing or a beautiful flowering tree.
Two things stick out to me within this discovery of what makes me feel like a person:
1) It's not necessarily always in things that "feel" holy in and of themselves.
Soaking in the quietness of the house while I wash dishes at night can be a sacred time if I'm entering into it being mindful of God's presence. As can writing, playing the piano, digging in the garden, going for a walk, and the list could go on...
2) God has created each of us uniquely, so what makes me feel like a person and what makes you feel like a person may not be the same.
No two people have the same physical makeup or set of gifts and abilities. The ways each of us connect with God and feel like a person are going to look different, and that's okay. In fact, we bring God delight simply by fully being the person He created us to be - just as the birds bring God glory just by singing the song they were created to sing.
In this unusual time, as we strive to establish a new normal, I hope we all discover what things make each of us feel like a person. And as we discover them, I hope God uses them to draw all of us closer to Him and fulfill His purposes in and through our lives.
Pray with me...
... for our students to discover more about the person God created them to be
You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Psalm 139:13-14
… for our teachers and staff to continue finding ways to use their gifts in this new kind of teaching
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7
... for all in the BCS community (and beyond) to continually find rest, purpose and meaning through Jesus
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Soli Deo Gloria
To God alone be the glory
Carrie Warner, BCS Prayer Team Coordinator
Original source can be found here.
Source: Berks Christian School
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