[Magdalen] Lessons from Covid

[Roger Stokes]

We are familiar with the quotation that "all things work together for 
good with those that love God" (if I have got that quite right) so what 
benefit can we see from the current straitened times in the Church? My 
current situation is that the church is open two hours a day for private 
prayer but we are allowed to share in organized acts of communal worship 
which is twice a week in this parish, once on Sunday and once midweek. 
In that context I can recognize three boons for myself.

The first and most regular is that a small group of us now say Morning 
Prayer six days a week via Zoom. I have always felt awkward saying the 
Office on my own with nobody to respond and flicking through the service 
book and bible is demanding. I am able to follow and participate from a 
text laid out in order on one screen while another device connects me 
via Zoom with my fellow worshippers. That is certainly a blessing.

The second is that when I go to church and settle into my chair some 
time before the service starts it is more peaceful and easier to settle 
into God's presence.

Thirdly, and I noticed this particularly at the Service of Lessons and 
Carols on Sunday when all the carols were sung by the choir, the words 
can wash over me more easily bathing me in their meaning.

Roger