Finding the Positives In Our Situation

It’s fair to say that 2020 hasn’t turned out quite the way any of us were expecting. It would also be fair to say that none of us have ever been in a situation quite like this before. Sure, the world has been ravaged by nasty diseases in the past, but our scientific knowledge, combined with technologies never before available, have allowed us to deal with COVID 19 in a unique way.

For some people, their lives have been completely turned upside down. Others of us are looking around going “Huh? Not much has changed.” Yes, I’m on of those extreme introverts who chose to work from home before it was cool!

But if we look, maybe we can find some positives to our situation. Maybe there are some nuggets of gold hidden in the mess that we can take advantage of. Let’s go on a treasure hunt and see if we can find some.

Time to Write

As a community of writers, this should be the obvious one. Many people around Australia, New Zealand, and the world, have tragically lost their jobs during this lock-down. This will lead to financial hardship, and the severity of that should not be downplayed. That said, the bright spark is that without having to spend 8 hours or more on the day job, there is more opportunity to spend time writing.

Around 5 years ago, I was made redundant from my job. Fortunately, this redundancy didn’t last long, through a weird twist of life that I can only put down to God. Another department of the company wanted me back to work on their project. But during that time in between, I was able to finish the first draft of what became book 1 in my Jewel of The Stars series. I still remember the satisfaction when I typed “The End” at my kitchen desk.

For those of us who have not lost our jobs, we may be working from home. That too allows us extra time for writing, when we would otherwise have been commuting. This is one of many reasons I chose to work from home before it became a necessity. Of course, it’s easy to neglect that extra time and just sleep in a little longer.

If you are still working outside of your home then I salute you. You may not have much more writing time than before, although there may have been outside activities you are no longer doing.

Time With Family

We’re sure spending a lot of extra time with our families lately. And it’s bringing tensions. Siblings and pulling out each other’s hair. Parents are screaming at kids. This is to be expected, and it’s happening to all of us. (Or is it just me?) But as challenging as it can be sometimes, this extra time together is a special blessing. Parents are helping their kids with their school work. Kids are helping with the housework (Ha ha. Yeah, sorry. That one was a joke!) Parents and kids are playing games and laughing together. This is a unique opportunity to make the most of our family time, in a way that will likely never happen again in our lifetimes.

A Different Kind of Church

Church sure is different at the moment. I showed up in my pyjamas yesterday morning with a bowl of cereal in my lap. I ducked out during one of the songs to grab some Ribena and tortillas for communion. I sought prayer from one of our leaders in a chat room. As a massive nerd, I love this. This is my kind of church. For others, it has been a big struggle.

My church has been live streaming our services for a few years now, and live video is my primary ministry area at church. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I was quite excited at the prospect of moving to online services. I even got to do the video switching for our first lockdown service. That said, I do recognise the benefits of meeting together and face-to-face fellowship, even if I’m much more comfortable talking to a computer or a camera than a human being.

There are certainly challenges with this new way of doing church. Especially for extroverts, or those without access to, or knowledge of, technology. But there are also advantages. The internet has been filled with churches beaming out the gospel. This has given us the opportunity to show that church was never about the building. It was about the global family of Christ followers each doing their bit where they are.

Another advantage is that it has brought us together in unity. Not every church has the resources to put on a live production each weekend, but those that can are inviting others to join them. Just yesterday morning, my church in little old Launceston, Tasmania was visited by guests from New South Wales, Canada and USA. We also regularly have guests joining us from other churches that don’t have their own online programs. God’s people are forgetting the artificial lines that separate us and coming together.

It Gave Me Something to Blog About

Seriously. If we hadn’t been stuck in lock-down due to COVID-19, I’d have had to think of something else to blog about.

I hope that treasure hunt has given you something to feel good about.

What other positives can you find in our situation?

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Adam David Collins is a speculative fiction author from Tasmania, Australia. He draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith. Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these, along with his monthly Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Bulletin on his youTube channel. You can find him at AdamDavidCollings.com