A new start when the lockdown comes to an end

For weeks, we have been limited in what we could do and where we could go. It looked like one life or one period or age had come to a close and another way of living came to the forefront.

Several countries loosening the restrictions of the lockdown offer a totally different world than before the corona crisis. Many people had now several weeks to think about their way of life and are wondering how they shall have to continue in this world where nothing shall seem to be the same as before.

“Most of us think that we can change our lives if we just summon the willpower and try even harder this time around,”

says Alan Deutschman, the former executive director of Unboundary, a firm that counsels corporations on how to navigate change.

 “It’s exceptionally hard to make life changes, and our efforts are usually doomed to failure when we try to do it on our own.”

For New Year's resolutions it is well known that mostly when Spring arrives they are all gone or forgotten. To suggest that most people will never change, no matter how much they want to, seems almost giving no opportunity to believe positively in mankind.

In many of the so-called civilised countries, you may find bookstore shelves swollen with the latest self-help books, and life-change gurus like Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil and, yes, Oprah are pop-culture icons. There are the Experience, Observation, Awareness, even a Fear Guru next to the guru who tends to demoralize us. And for all these gurus there was a lof of screening time on television lately. Bounded to the house, many also came hooked tot the screen wich brought all the bad news about corona, but also brought programs about people who had difficulties with coping with themselves as well with others.

For many people, it also looked difficult to accept themselves for who and what they are.

We noticed also that in this period of the CoViD-19 pandemic several people looked on the net for answers about the role of God in this matter. Many also sought for a spiritual guru. Others looked on social media to others to find out how they were coping with this present situation. Some also tried to learn from the one who hasn't reached the top. It was as if they needed a sibling to relate to their father.
What does not seem bad, is that some people went looking for themselves, and after knowing self, God, world drama history,... they found themselves more related to the divine Creator God. They came to feel that though at other times we are so busy to have contact with other people, that we forget a much more important contact.

In quarantine many become confronted with That Higher Being, coming to feel there is no one between them, there also not being restraints, Someone Who accepts them the way they are.

I t can well be that in this period we took more time to try to impress Him by moulding our character to the one He loves i.e imbibe virtues and give up our bad habits. Did you felt also closer to HIm? So that's kind of evergreen feeling because you are growing with Him and not just getting prepared to showcase self in front of Him after end of the present life. (?)

It is well know we all want to do some things our own way. 

"What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn’t direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants." 

Having been captive now for some weeks, in our own cocoon, we had enough time to think about ourselves and about our relationship with others and with our Maker.

Having had so much time, many considered if this would not be the moment to go to do it differently. The 8th of June was for the kids as for the parents like a new schoolyear, or a new start of a new and a different life.
This new situation made some people making a resolution and summoning up all their willpower does little good if, ultimately, their heart isn’t in it. Does this mean you should abandon any hope of change? Not at all. If you’re going to make a resolution, you should determine if the resolution is actually good. always you should check what is the driving desire. Is it a good one?

If your resolution is actually a good one, just do it. Go ahead and work out more, smoke or drink less, read your Bible more, pay down your debt and save more for retirement, focus on your marriage, spend more time with your children.
In all cases, we shall have to place ourselves in the surroundings with others. Our interaction with them is always going to influence our aims and actions.

Jesus gave us an example to follow and provide a helper, the Holy Spirit, who can change our desires and empower us to love God and neighbour. As Paul tells us,

 “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

 With us and our willpower, Jesus says, change is impossible,

 “but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

 As Cranmer realized, our wills are captive to what our hearts love, and we are powerless to change ourselves without the work of God’s Spirit changing our desires.

When you think through the resolutions you want to make for after Corona, here’s a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer as you ask God to work on your heart:

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Preceding

 Catholics facing a totally different Holy Week

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Additional reading

1. Social media, sympathy & shocks
2. The unseen enemy
3. Broken daily routines
4. Staying at home saves lives
5. A virus giving the world an opportunity to re-evaluate and change the way we live
6. Unlikely silence
7. Covid-19 Psalm 19 Isaiah 26 and the Evangelical Proof-Texters
8. 7 Ways To Boost Your Immune System in Lockdown
9. So many being afraid – reason enough to step in the boat with Christ
10. Love in the Time of Corona
11. Hosting a Virtual Seder During a Pandemic
12. 2020 World Time to pause