Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
— Isaiah 43:18-19
Did you watch the launch on Saturday? Did you see the docking on Sunday morning? It was hard to watch and not think back to what has been. I remember the long shots of the Saturn V slowly lifting from the pad. I remember pictures from Mission Control in Houston, full of tubes and wires. I remember the grainy black & white images from the capsule with row after row of switches and dials. This looked so different, so sharp, so close, so clear. Honestly, it looked to me like an Apple Store was being launched, controlled from… an Apple Store. While the suits look a little retro, the overall impression is, “this is new!”
There was tension, too. Of course for me there has been tension ever since Challenger. I hold my breath every time I hear “go at throttle up.” I shade my eyes, like I do when I watch a horror movie, and peer through the cracks in my fingers. I felt like I couldn’t cheer until Doug and Bob were connected to the ISS.
Whenever we encounter something new, we try to place it into the framework of our experience. We will say, “this is like the time…” or “this tastes like chicken…” As we have faced the novel coronavirus (novel, of course, meaning “new” and previously unknown) both scientists and laypeople have attempted to address it from the perspective of what we have previously experienced. This is useful, because if something has worked before against something similar, then it might work on this! When we have faced similar pandemics, we know what can help stop the spread.
Often, however, comparisons might not apply. No, this isn’t just like the Flu. Our previous experience might get in the way. Worse, we often get stuck repeating the mistakes of the past, or the emotions and judgements of our previous experiences prevent us from being open to the new. This is the basis of pre-judging. We make up in our minds about the new before we can even experience them – so we never really comprehend them!
I am convinced that God is doing a new thing in this moment. I don’t mean that God wills, wants, or intends for these hundreds of thousands to die, nor of the millions to suffer. But we might allow ourselves, in this time of crisis, to discover what is truly important to us – what is essential – and to change our lives to better reflect those priorities.
We learn from the past. We build on the foundation of the past. And God is doing a new thing.
Can you see it?
Open us, O God to the new things you are doing. Move in us to calm our fears and strengthen our confidence. For you are our Rock and our Refuge. Help us to honor the past, to learn from our victories and mistakes, and then to cleanse our hearts and minds in preparation for the new opportunities you bring. Fill us with your love and sense of purpose, that we may boldly go into your new creation. We pray this in the name of Jesus, our companion and guide. Amen.
Pastor George