As countries are struggling to recover, the reality of having to live alongside a virus that has no vaccine is slowly setting in. Our decisions and movements are now hinged on COVID19. How are we doing so far?
Whatever it takes
Despite thousands losing jobs and livelihood in the country, it is inspiring to see people rise from financial difficulty into abundance. Those who used to hold regular jobs became enterprising and created businesses answering the needs of the moment.
Economic opportunities have opened up in the new COVID environment and those who adapted to it are faring well.
With the closure of many food establishments, food deliveries of every kind became the source of income for many people.
Former entertainers, hospitality workers, and teachers were just some of the folks I saw in the news raking in success as they focused on selling food supplies, baked goods, and specialty dishes on social media.
Some have ventured into selling medical supplies and home-made face masks which are niche markets today. Our friends in the community have ventured into selling produce, baked goods, and other foodstuffs all of which we're benefiting from.
Many have also turned to online English teaching. Last month, the largest online English education company in China which already employs thousands of online Filipino teachers, announced that they need 30,000 online English teachers to address the demands of their more than 10 million registered students.
Keeping in touch
As travel restrictions eased, my sister who lives 10 minutes away was finally able to visit us. It was an emotional reunion since she hasn't seen Mama in the flesh for more than three months.
It hit me how heartbreaking it must be for those who are stranded in another city, province, or country. Like most people, I haven't seen my relatives, friends, and people in our community for a long time.
We are especially careful with the senior members in our circle as they are the most vulnerable. Many people all over the world can't wait to give their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles hugs and kisses, and the younger relatives vice versa. For now, we'll have to be content with interacting with them through apps and social media on our gadgets.
Faith and community
Religious places of worship are slowly opening with many challenges. Strict hygiene rules are being adopted with the number of attendees limited to half or less than half of the meeting place's capacity. Despite employing these rules, a major church in Manila which opened up last month had to close down again because a priest was found positive with the virus. It begs the question of whether gathering in groups for religious activities outweighs the risk of contracting the virus.
I have to say though that one good thing came out of the lockdown. The habit of going to church to worship was replaced with home Bible studies, fellowship, and prayer times. For many, pre-pandemic, there was no time to sit down as a family to pray or study the Bible together. Everyone was busy doing their own thing whether it be a school activity, work, social activity, or church ministry. With all of that taken away, we were left with the simplest and most important (as we are finding out) family activity which is worship time.
We discovered that worship time at home can be a down-to-earth, intimate time with God and family.
Families are connecting and collaborating with other families on videoconferencing apps and are creating an online community. It was also amazing to see collaboration of believers from different countries in order to create music videos as a way to encourage each other and the world. In a way, the pandemic brought us closer than we've ever imagined.
Moving forward
This is the world we live in now and we will make the best of it. In order to advance, we can only look ahead. If we keep looking back to how we were before, we may get delayed, or worse, be prevented from reaching the new and good thing before us.
There are worries and uncertainties but these are all normal since we are charting a new course. What has your response been so far? Let these final words encourage you from Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV):
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