Virtual Presence

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/22/virtual-presence

Covid 19 has changed the face of the earth. At its peak, our carbon footprint reduced tremendously when countries went into lockdown and factories ceased production, in particular in China. CO2 emissions dropped across the globe and global warming was given a reprieve with our ozone layer recovering a little. But it had disastrous economic consequences and one of its aftermath is that the cost of things have gone up across board now. Freight charges have increased even 5 fold, mainly because shippers needed to recoup significant losses suffered in 2020. It is paradoxical, we know we are destroying the environment with the way we are going on as humans and yet when something catastrophic like Covid-19 occurs, we work very hard to get back on track as soon possible so that we can continue to destroy the environment! It is tragic that human activity is such that if we pause even for a few months, it is detrimental to almost everyone, except the animals and trees in the forests and marine life in the oceans.

Some say that Covid-19 is the devil’s plan to destroy the church since nearly everyone was forced online and missed out on the gathering of the brethren, the joy and celebration of worshipping God together physically ushering His presence in our midst. The blessings from the fellowship of congregated believers. But was the church destroyed? It was definitely affected and people could have gone astray or became plain lazy, worshipping God in their pyjamas or skipping church entirely. No, the church survived and adapted. Those of us in the worship and AV ministries worked hard to make the experience as good as it could possibly get and we praise God for the advent of connected technologies like high speed broadband, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet that church and work could continue online from the comforts of our homes. We are only limited by the broadband bandwidth of our homes and with online services, we are now able to tune in to services across the globe, anywhere that we wished as long as the other side lets us in.

Embrace change and adapt my dear brethren because in the end times, things will not become easier. As congregations, we must support one another that we may all continue in the faith. Covid-19 has changed the world forever. There is the new normal. Perhaps hybrid meetings will be a permanent feature in our church services? Or smaller churches could offer multiple services to cater for more on site services at reduced capacity with SOP and social distancing implemented? Not a question of law but the well being and health of our fellow members.

At the end of the day, we trust and have faith that the Holy Spirit unites us all and we will continue to experience the presence of God despite worshipping alone from the confines of our rooms or living halls. Even as some of us continue to complain about this less than ideal situation, know that just 30 years back before the advent of cellular phones and during the era of tapped fixed lines, believers in the underground church in China relied only on the prompting of the Holy Spirit on where and when to meet! Stop mumbling and do our best now that we have everything at our finger tips virtually! God is good and good all the time!