Webmaster Thoughts

 A year ago I posted some quarantine thoughts on this forum. Here we are exactly one year later and some things are better, but many are still the same. I am still working from home, travel is still banned to most countries, we are still supposed to wear masks in public, the pandemic is still a major public concern and still affecting how we live our lives. The pre-pandemic "normal" that we once knew is still quite a ways away.

However things have changed to a certain extent. Many people are now vaccinated (over 50% of the people in our country have gotten at least one shot of vaccine), most churches have opened to in-person services, sports are starting to allow fans in the stands, most student are back to some form of in-person schooling, and toilet paper is now easier to find. Fear is beginning to turn to hope.

Will things fully return to "normal" as we knew it? I doubt it and to a great extent I hope not. Please don't call this the "new normal", I dislike that term. This is not a new normal, it is change and though we generally don't like change, much of this change is for the good. The increased awareness that slowing down and spending time with the family is important, the renewed excitement to see old friends, the intentional turning to God and worship, the increased discussion about race and equality... 

Much that has changed is good, however we still have a ways to go. We need to reduce the racial disparity, political and social turmoil, and the disunity as a nation that we are still experiencing. We need to eliminate the perpetuating of falsehoods and conspiracy theories that still abound in social media and even mainstream media. We need to learn to respect each others opinions and views, whether we agree or not. instead of name-calling. We need to get this pandemic under control and slow the number of deaths occurring.

Yes, we still have a ways to go. But we need to embrace these changes and not go back to the old "normal", I think we can be better than that. We have just come through a year of trying to survive... it's time for us to learn from the past year, to improve, and to thrive.