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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Rachel Mann.

Good morning.

Nearly eighteen months on from the beginning of the pandemic I’ve begun to think about what I’ve learned from it, if anything. I do so with all due caution. It’s not over yet, and so many of us have lost loved ones that cheap conclusions would be inappropriate.

I am also conscious that if this time of pandemic has tested me, I’ve also had a lot of privilege. As a parish priest I was already used to working from a spacious and comfortable home.

However, as someone who lives with a chronic disease I spent the first few months of the pandemic effectively shielded. Doing that as a single person was challenging. I only realised how starved for physical contact I’d become when a cat strayed into my house three months into lockdown and I almost cried when she let me stroke her ears.

Ultimately, I went over a year without real human touch. I say this not to garner your sympathy. Rather, I came to realise that human contact really matters. If I still think St Paul’s exhortation to ‘greet one another with a holy kiss’ is over the top, I dreamed of a simple handshake in Church.

Recently I finally managed to see my parents and siblings face-to-face after over fifteen months separation. We hugged one another and there were tears of relief. If, as I believe, God is love, those tears were a sign of God. The pandemic has reminded me that love is known through the body.

God of Love, keep us and our loved ones safe through this time of trial, but draw us deeper this day into the fullness of life.

Amen.

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