EdHart.meMy last post was supposed to be a short summary of responding to the current coronavirus crisis. How we respond Christianly involves how we think about the crisis as well as how we behave in the midst of it. It ended up going a little longer than I expected! I ended the last post alluding to Peter and Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. You know the story…
In the part of the country I love in, we’re drawing to a close the 3rd week of remote working, social distancing and sheltering in place. The change has effectively sunk in and, at least myself and the friends and colleagues I keep in contact with are settling into new routines. So many day-to-day dynamics have changed and I’m thankful for the technology that enables easy video conferencing and virtual connection. But clearly, in the new world of COVID-19, the character of communication has taken on a very different form. No longer are the serendipitous meetings at lunch or among the community. Now almost all connections require an intentional initiative and some degree of planning and foresight.
I’ve had so many conversations lately that at some point hit an “a-ha” moment, one that goes something like this: “Can you even believe it was less than a month ago that everything was going great. It seems like an eternity…” The corollary is also true. Can you believe it was just over a decade ago that we were pulling out of a recession that was quite likely the worst economy that most of us ever experienced?
This past week has been one of spectacular beauty and color as the southern spring awakens. What a contrast to the news and the solemn tone when shopping the empty aisles in the grocery store, as I did yesterday evening. I know that not everywhere in the country is experiencing the same excellent weather this as I write this, but in the deep south, where I call home, we are, in the words of ee cummings, in Just- spring.
As we enter into the second full week of remote work, I’d like to provide some encouragement as well as a few helpful resources (from my company page) as you get adjusted to a “new normal” for at least the short-term future. While we are all going through this pandemic crisis together and responding as best we can to the onslaught of constant information, I believe it’s helpful to revisit some guiding principles with respect to both investments and life.
One of the most common refrains I hear from people is how busy they are. I’d almost go so far as to say it’s the defining complaint of my generation. And it kind of makes sense to me that the rise of busyness has coincided with the accelerating pace of technology and the information overload that it has produced. More options, more access and more social media fueled FOMO than ever before has created a hyperbolic schedule-to-time ratio that more often than not leaves us exhausted and depressed.
I’ve been thinking this weekend about how the timing of the coronavirus has coincided with the season of Lent. Lent doesn’t seem to get a lot of press this day and age, unless you’re Catholic or are part of a more liturgical Christian persuasion, but it can be very instructive in times like these.
Where I’m writing from, we’re at the end of the first real week of a fundamental shift. This is the first week of working exclusively remotely and of not having access to toilet paper. The first week of not being able to run out to a restaurant for lunch or catch up on my email in the coffee shop a block away. The first week that virtually every event on my calendar for the next few months was cancelled.