During these long months of lockdown, I've noticed that there is a tendency to either look back, or to look forward... or both. Only this morning, a neighbour commented, "My goodness, on the 23rd of March we will have been in lockdown in one form or another for a whole year!" That's looking back. And then we hear from the news that we may have to remain in lockdown until Easter, or even until the summer. That's looking forward.
I am finding that the only way I can deal with this endless lockdown is to live in the NOW... just taking a day at a time. Not dwelling on the last 10 months of being shut down, and not ruminating on the possibility of several more months of being confined to the home. A line in Hymn 46 makes it so clear:"Day by day the manna fell, O to learn this lesson well".
A verse from Ecclesiastes comes to mind: "That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is past". And we read in 2nd Corinthians: "Behold, NOW is the accepted time, behold, NOW is the day of salvation".
In learning to take one day at a time, I recently came across this little prayer, which I have taken to heart during these months of lockdown. It reads: "What now, dear Father, would You have me know, and do,and be?" As I companion with this prayer, every day brings new opportunities to be about my Father's business....whether it be emailing a friend, phoning one of the family, popping across the road to chat to a neighbour on the doorstep, sending a parcel in the post to a friend in need, doing shopping for a loved one, or just being ready to lend my support where needed.
Mrs. Eddy's definition of DAY is so helpful when it comes to dealing with TIME, and particularly at the moment, when it's not easy to stay focused on the present. Our Leader writes in part: "DAY. The irradiance of Life; light, the spiritual idea of Truth and Love. The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded".
It's hard sometimes, in our present circumstances, to see and cherish evidence of good, but it is all around us...our warm homes, food in the shops, loving friends and family, supportive church members, caring neighbours, online church services, loving practitioners to turn to when there is a need...the list is endless!
A much-loved hymn assures us that "all good, where'er it may be found, its source doth find in Thee".
How comforting it is to know that in the kingdom of heaven, "the reign of harmony" where we all dwell, there is no lockdown or social distancing or separation. We live and move and have our being in God... in the bubble, or the circle, of Love!