I am going to begin with what some may consider pessimism. I certainly ascribe to the belief that God can turn the tide on COVID-19 with one word. I’m not living with diminished faith by making the upcoming statement. Rather, I want to recalibrate my mind in order to better navigate what remains of this year. Maybe it will be helpful to you as well.

2020 is what it is…

We will probably all be sporting “Christmas masks” this December.

The sooner we accept this, the quicker our soul can be strengthened and our faith can be leveraged well. I’ll keep praying, as I have done many times the last five months, for a quick turn and a decisive end to this Pandemic. While I am praying, I’ll prepare my heart for the opposite. Maybe that seems conflicting to some. I’ve just come to the conclusion that maturity of faith is the ability to hold the tension well between two seemingly incongruent expressions of faith.

If you are like me, there have been multiple moments when I felt the tide was turning and some sense of normal was rising from the rubble, only to see the news cycle surge in the wrong direction.

✅ In early May, when were able to resume gathering in our churches here in Tennessee, it felt like things shifted…now we know that not all of us feel comfortable gathering yet, and the precautions have made our experience feel very different from our typical faith family weekly meetings.

✅ In mid-May, when society began “re-opening” I just knew we were at the end of the Pandemic…then we had to cancel our summer camp experience.

✅ In July, I watched as our school systems initiated protocols and began releasing information about plans for our kids returning to the classroom…only for it to become clear that this school year is anything but normal.

✅ This month we observed professional sports re-boot and college football initiate its pre-season activity…now, it seems we are trending toward a fall with no college football…at the least, a very altered version.

Maybe I’m just gullible, naive, in denial, or too optimistic. Every prediction I’ve made about the coronavirus and it’s impact on the normalcy of our society has been flat wrong. I’ve learned I’m horrible at making predictions. One of those future telling prophets, I am not.

What I do know is that with each turn of the calendar, with each passing season, as cherished aspects of our lives are infringed upon…

Frustration mounts…

Disappointment encroaches…

Anger sets in…

Bitterness takes root…

Sorrow shrouds…

Uncertainty permeates…

. . .

May I offer a recalibration?

I know some of you are ten steps ahead of me, but for those who feel the looming angst which comes from wondering “when this will end”, this could help.

I’m making a simple yet profound choice…

I will find HIM in the midst.

I’m done exerting so much of my emotional equity on this toxic political climate.

I am concluding my partnership with the mounting frustration, which is fueled by the appalling incongruence, inconsistency, and hypocrisy in our society.

I am finished waiting for a “return to normal”. I’m not looking at the proverbial clock one more time wondering “when”.

I am divorcing disappointment, understanding that the things I enjoy in life should have never become my source of joy.

I am subduing uncertainty, bringing it under the weight of that of which I am certain.

I am rejecting the unnecessary “necessity” of understanding all we are experiencing.

I am breaking rank of my national citizenship, intentionally lodging at the front of my thoughts my spiritual citizenship.

I’m done perusing Social Media in hopes of some sliver of good news…I don’t need social media for that…I have been captivated by THE GOOD NEWS!

I am choosing to wake up every morning knowing it’s a gift to be received well. I am identifying HIS unceasing “withness”. I am determined to be on mission, an expression of the better way of Jesus in the middle of a pandemic. I’m no longer wondering when it will all end…I’m embracing the hour I have been given…I am not rushing this season…I only have one life, why would I wish the sand to slip through the hour glass at rapid rate?

I am holding on to this very simple fact.

We have misidentified 2020. We have illegitimately labeled this iteration on the calendar.

This is NOT “2020 The Year of COVID”.

This is 2020 A.D.

2020 Anno Domini

2020…

The Year of Our Lord.