This is the new normal. Not just for me but for everyone. No matter who or what we were before the COVID-19 pandemic, our lives have changed. Some felt the changes immediately and others have slowly come to admit that life is different.

In my effort to self-soothe, I have been binge-watching The Chosen. I figured there would be some grace for that since the series is about Jesus. One thing that has been striking to me throughout all the episodes so far is how present Jesus is with each person and their individual pain. He is seemingly unbothered with the larger issue of Roman rule although that is what most people believed they needed freedom from.

It got me to thinking about the times we are in now. Our prayers are focused on the eradication of COVID-19 but I wonder if Jesus were walking the earth at this moment if that would be his biggest concern. I wonder if instead, he would meet us where we were and heal our individual pain.

He would be breaking bread with the exhausted single mom and her babies, reassuring the local non-profit that the work they are doing is good or playing ball with the kid that misses his school friends. Perhaps he would be having a glass of wine with the craft lady that is making 400 masks for essential employees or cracking jokes in the household where tensions are high. I bet he would rush in to hug the elderly woman at the grocery store because although she was lonely before, she feels utterly deserted now.

I’m not sure what he would be doing exactly, but I’m convinced that he would be present with each of us in our unique sufferings and that he would teach us to do the same with others.

May God continue to open our eyes and ears to those around us who need to feel His presence and may we have the courage to be His hands and feet.