Highfields Church of Christ

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Message From the Pastor
    • Pastor
    • Vision and Values
    • Ministries
    • How To Find Us
    • CofC QLD Annual Report
  • All Sermons
  • Church & Family
  • Phone: 0408 304 776
You are here: Home / Theological / Getting Back to Normal After COVID-19. Maybe. Maybe Not.

Getting Back to Normal After COVID-19. Maybe. Maybe Not.

April 9, 2020

Article is from peteenns.com

PETE ENNS, PH.D.

Peter Enns (Ph.D., Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of biblical studies at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. Tweets at @peteenns.

We all react to COVID-19 in our own way. Some hoard, some hide. Some fear for their own safety and the safety of loved ones. Some are exhausted by little ones at their feet, some are craving human contact beyond social media.

However we respond to the new normal, this virus has cramped our style. And now it looks like things won’t be back to semi-normal until (optimistically) early May or so (who am I kidding . . .). 

And we all want to get back to normal, to the way our lives were before. We want to visit whom we want when we want, buy food or eat out, start the %@&#! baseball season, not cancel weddings and graduations, and basically not catch a potentially life-threatening virus because someone 4 feet away from us cleared their throat.

I’m down with that, but all this is putting me in a rather pensive, Ecclesiastes-like train of thought, namely:

  • What exactly are we so rushed to get back to? 
  • What were we doing that was really so deeply significant on the grand scale of things? 
  • Or were we just amusing ourselves—kidding ourselves—that anything we do “under the sun” is really all that worth it when we stop to think about it?

Yes, this post is taking a sharp turn to despair, but not really. Give me a chance.

I am thinking about my life now and my life “BC” (before coronavirus), and although they are so very different, are they really that different on the deeper level of meaning? 

The book of Ecclesiastes takes on the question of meaning the way only a tortured soul can—with the kind of honest “prove me wrong” clarity we rarely get to when things are going well for us. 

The anonymous writer, whose pen name is Qohelet, is obviously working through some issues, and concludes that “normal” is at the end of the day meaningless—or “vanity” as some translations have it. 

Our “normal” is for Qohelet of no lasting consequence. His line of argument, which he repeats throughout the book, goes something like this:

********

Everything, absolutely everything is utterly meaningless, and trying to find some meaning amid the absurdity of life is about as productive as chasing a gust of wind.

(Seems like a ball of laughs. I wonder if he does kids’ parties. It gets worse.)

Why do I say that everything is absolutely, absurdly meaningless? Because, if you think about it, nothing that we do—none of our frenzied toils and labors—actually benefit us in any lasting, meaningful way in the final analysis. 

(Surely you can’t mean that, Qohelet. I have all sorts of things I can point to in my life that tell me I’m getting a lot out of benefit from my work. . . like that screw and nail organizer I just bought, this blog post I’m working on, or . . . )

If I may interrupt, the reason none of our labors amount to anything is because, in the end, we lose—we all die. And not only do we die, but we will be quickly forgotten by those who remain just as we have forgotten those who have died before us.

(Why do you have to bring that up?)

That is the inevitable end of us all. We all die. Fool and sage, rich and poor, the industrious and the lazy, the righteous and the wicked. The same fate awaits us all, and what we do—our daily frenzied rushing about—cannot change that one bit. That’s the way the world works. That’s the way God has set it all up.

(OK, but don’t you believe that after you die you. . . ?)

We don’t really know, do we, what happens after death? We die just like animals, and who is to say that our spirits continue and theirs do not? All we can really be sure of is that, at the end of the day, the end will come for us all. 

(You’re so depressing.)

And here’s the thing: we’re only able to come to this conclusion because God has given us humans a sense of time; we ponder what has come before and what might come in the future—and yet that very ability also shows that nothing we do can make a difference at the end. The best that we can do, therefore, is to live our daily lives and find as much happiness as we can during the few years we have.

******

You might be wondering how this book made the cut to get into the Bible. And you might also be wondering where I’m going with all this.

As I said, I’ve been thinking lately, as many of us are, about what I actually do to use up the minutes of my life and why I do them. 

“Normal” is no more, and never will be again. We are in a new world, and—taking some inspiration from the I-just-tell-it-like-I-see-it Qohelet—I want to be more intentional in how I live, to be more aware of how I “chase the wind” (one of Qohelet’s favorite expressions for useless activity). 

I want to not want to just slip back into “normal,” but interrogate my notions of what “normal” is. Rather than give the old normal a free pass and simply yearn for it, I want to take this time to ponder new beginnings—even small ones.

Maybe “normal” isn’t all that. Maybe it was pretty ridiculous, a scam to keep us in a fog. And maybe this tragic, Qohelet-like existential crisis we are facing will help us to be more intentional with our lives.  

· Theological

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Phone
  • YouTube

Our Instagram

  • Naomi Kay shared an amazing message with us this Sunday. If you missed it don
    Naomi Kay shared an amazing message with us this Sunday. If you missed it don't worry because we will have
  • Check out this video we recently uploaded to YouTube made by Highfields Youth & Kids by clicking the link below.
    Check out this video we recently uploaded to YouTube made by Highfields Youth & Kids by clicking the link below.
  • Missed our service this Sunday morning? Click the link below to hear Pastor Matt kickoff our new series
    Missed our service this Sunday morning? Click the link below to hear Pastor Matt kickoff our new series 'Plans.' https://youtu.be/-wzSwUVKnKY
  • Looking for a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Service to join? You are welcomed to attend our services. We pray
    Looking for a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Service to join? You are welcomed to attend our services. We pray
  • Awesome to have Churches of Christ in Queensland recognises the amazing work Steve Smith (and many others) have done renovating
    Awesome to have Churches of Christ in Queensland recognises the amazing work Steve Smith (and many others) have done renovating
  • Don
    Don't forget to check out our Podcast where you can hear or Sermons, Midweek Devotionals, and more in 2021. https://open.spotify.com/show/1onBMF8RElr1PZGGibHXzQ
  • Hey Y
    Hey Y'all there will be No Youth Tonight. We apologies for the inconvenience and look forward to what 2021 will
  • Check out our Midweek Devotional by clicking the link below. https://youtu.be/KjKawOhn59U
    Check out our Midweek Devotional by clicking the link below. https://youtu.be/KjKawOhn59U
  • Merry Christmas! We pray you have a blessed Christmas. Remember Jesus Christ came as a helpless baby because humanity is
    Merry Christmas! We pray you have a blessed Christmas. Remember Jesus Christ came as a helpless baby because humanity is
  • Our gardens are starting to take shape. Excited to be moving into our building later this year
    Our gardens are starting to take shape. Excited to be moving into our building later this year
  • Happy New Year
    Happy New Year's y'all! Hope you have a blessed New Year's Eve and a great start to the New Year
  • Missed our messages from the past two Sundays? They have both been uploaded to our YouTube Channel. Click the link
    Missed our messages from the past two Sundays? They have both been uploaded to our YouTube Channel. Click the link
  • Will be awesome to hear from Naomi Kay this Sunday! 9:30am @ Geham State School
    Will be awesome to hear from Naomi Kay this Sunday! 9:30am @ Geham State School
  • Missed our message this Sunday from Naomi Kay about keeping God in our plans for 2021? Click the link below
    Missed our message this Sunday from Naomi Kay about keeping God in our plans for 2021? Click the link below
  • Check out our recent blog post about Ed Dobson
    Check out our recent blog post about Ed Dobson's Story by clicking the link below http://www.highfieldschurch.org/ed-dobsons-story/
  • Check out our recent blog post on our website by clicking the link below. http://www.highfieldschurch.org/taking-the-lower-place/
    Check out our recent blog post on our website by clicking the link below. http://www.highfieldschurch.org/taking-the-lower-place/
  • Our chairs for the auditorium have arrived this week!
    Our chairs for the auditorium have arrived this week!
  • Drive-In Movie in Highfields. There is still room and movie starts at 6:45pm Love our community.
    Drive-In Movie in Highfields. There is still room and movie starts at 6:45pm Love our community.
  • Check out this week
    Check out this week's Midweek Devotional by clicking the link below. https://youtu.be/IKB9eEWD1_w
  • Church @ Home this Sunday! Check out our message and do church at home by clicking the link below. Enjoy
    Church @ Home this Sunday! Check out our message and do church at home by clicking the link below. Enjoy

Copyright © 2021 · Simply Pro by Bloom Blog Shop.