As you will no doubt be aware, the recent covid-19 outbreak has changed everyone’s lives to a greater and a lesser extent. As a church we know that many members of our family will be self-isolating, working from home, or practicing social distancing over the coming weeks. We are hoping that through a series of blogs we can encourage you, and others who might be reading these blogs, to fix your eyes on Jesus, and respond to the crisis in a way which honours his will for our lives.
Lord Hennessy, a historian, referred to the Corona Virus as a great leveller in that the virus is no respecter of social status, race, gender, ability, wealth, etc.
Irrespective of who you are, the virus and the associated social shutdown impacts us all.
He also speculated about how PhD students of the future will regard our society and how we responded to the challenges posed by the virus.
So let’s give them something positive to talk about.
I’ve seen blogs with suggestions as to how we can make working from home happier and healthier – all suggestions have been welcome.
But how can we help each other?
My daughter saw a woman giving bottles of hand sanitiser to fellow commuters and a lady holding a sign giving her phone number asking people to contact her if they need support. I’m not advocating that last one, but it set me wondering, what can we do for work colleagues and for neighbours who are coping with the same pressures right now.
We can keep in touch with those we usually work along side – not just team conference calls, but on a one to one basis too.
We can share coping tips – both with work colleagues and neighbours.
Try turning the usual half-felt enquiry (“How you doing, alright?”) into a more searching question – “How you doing today?” – and wait for a real answer. If in doubt, ask twice.
Support local businesses by shopping in smaller independent shops – they seem to better stocked that the supermarkets in any case.
Support your local Food bank – details here.
And ring your mum – she worries about you.
One day we’ll all be featured in a PhD dissertation (probably several); I’d like to think we come out looking good.
