My prayer answered as we unite in worship once more
LIFTING lockdown was always going to be a trickier and more contradictory business than the shutdown itself. Telling everyone – bar a few key industries – to shut up shop and work from home, if possible, was always a clearer and more equitable message.
Telling parents that childminders could open but nurseries could not, or the tourist trade that cottages and caravans were fine to take bookings but B&Bs were going to have to wait, was always going to be problematic.
And, of course, it wasn’t only workplaces that shut. Swing parks were cordoned off by the council, golf courses had their pins lifted and churches were told to close their doors.
This last restriction – stopping Scots going to their place of worship – has been a particularly hard one for many.
Faith can be a source of strength and support at all times, but none more so than during times of trial, worry and fear.
Coronavirus has been indiscriminate in its targeting, infecting people from all parts of the country and all walks of life.
The anxiety it has brought extends beyond those with a clinical diagnosis – anyone with a family member working on the front line in hospitals or care homes will have experienced that clenched gut, praying the virus stays at bay.
Similarly, those losing their job or business they have built, or facing the horrible situation of having to lay off loyal staff in the hope of salvaging enough of a firm to grow again from the ground up, knows sleepless fear.
Many churches have taken their services online, building a new congregation of support.
People who are not tech-savvy enough to log on to a live stream, such as my mother, have had CDs of services dropped through their letterbox so they can receive spiritual sustenance in their own time.
Even those who, like my father, identify as ‘church of wheelbarrow’ – they go when pushed – may have felt an absence. Perhaps not from weekly services, but think of the religious festivals that stud the year, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish.
Easter, Passover, Ramadan and Eid all fell during lockdown and all required people to celebrate and mark them at home, away from their faith community.
That is a sacrifice, and no less of one for some people than not being able to visit a neighbour’s home or go to a place of work.
THAT is why, as lockdown started to be lifted, there was a real sense of consternation within and between faith communities about the lack of information or urgency regarding the reopening of churches, temples, mosques, gurdwaras and other places of worship.
Yes, certain spaces have been able to open for individual prayer for a fortnight or so but, until last week, there was no telling when faith communities could meet together again. I cannot have been the only MSP to have received large amounts of correspondence regarding this.
I’ve had everything from the straight, ‘When will I be allowed to go back to church?’, to puzzlement over why restaurants or bars are seemingly being prioritised over worship, and an accusatory, ‘How can it be safer to sit in an enclosed cinema for two hours than it is to attend a halfhour service spread out in a cavernous cathedral?’.
The Rt Rev Dr John Armes, Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh, summed up the wrench of lockdown by saying: ‘The closure of church buildings has been a real deprivation. This crisis has challenged us in all sorts of ways and has threatened the mental wellbeing of many.’
That is why the reopening of places of worship from Wednesday is so important. Yes, services will be very different. Congregations will be spaced far apart in the pews and there will be no choirs. Communal singing along with chanting and call-andresponse will be restricted, due to the way the virus spreads.
Indeed, singing hymns and recanting prayers, texts or creeds out loud could be banned for weeks and months to come.
But the very fact that faith communities can meet again and be led in worship – in person – is powerful and important.
Many faiths preach that a single coal removed from a fire will cool, but returned will burn bright. This week, coals from every faith will allow their fires to burn brightly once again.