Love in a Covid Climate
As published in the June edition of the Mission Area Magazine
One of the remarkable results of the coronavirus pandemic, in many communities, has been an increased awareness of our neighbours. One should be cautious about romanticising this and I am sure that, in the fullness of time, we will hear horror stories about those who have been neglected and who feel disconnected from community due to their enforced isolation; but there is a lot of evidence of an awakening of community spirit and much talk that the “new normal” will see society strengthened. Let’s hope that that is true and do our part to make sure it is.
At the heart of the Christian faith is the command to love – as Jesus summarised the law, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’… ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12.30-31) So, the concern we have for our own health and safety at this time shouldn’t just motivate us to protect ourselves and satisfy our own material needs, but should also turn our attention to those around us, our neighbours, the members of our community.
That isn’t a contentious or remarkable thing to say. Christians are certainly not alone in thinking this, although many will be at the forefront of activity (where their own health allows). Many people are showing care and concern for their neighbours, families and friends. This is the silver-lining to the present cloud. We might reflect on Jesus’ famous parable, told in response to the question ‘who is my neighbour?’, in which it is the Samaritan who shows loving concern and acts promptly to rescue the wounded traveller on the Jericho road; so we might be surprised to accept care from those, like the Samaritan, whom we normally disregard, look down on, or criticise. For Jesus’ Jewish audience, the thought of accepting help from a Samaritan was disgusting; but love, which casts out fear, breaks down religious and social barriers. We are called to accept care (which many find harder than giving it) from those with whom we might not normally associate; and, of course, we are also called to offer that care to people regardless of their religion, sexuality, race, gender or lifestyle. So maybe this is the time to reach out to your difficult neighbour, or to be willing to accept their help to you?
I can’t help wondering how this applies to us as a Mission Area. Our ten churches, which are part of the wider ‘teulu Asaph’ (the family of the diocese), are called by God to serve their communities – and to serve one another. We are commanded to love our neighbours. How does that work out in the Maelor Mission Area? Do the good people of St Mary’s, Overton, care about the congregation at St John the Baptist, Bettisfield? If St Deiniol’s, Eyton, needs some support, will the people of St Hilary’s, Erbistock, help them out?
We are not “other” in the way that the Samaritan was to the Jews; we are family, part of the Christian and Anglican family in a group of communities that are very similar to one another. It should be easy for Penley to love Bangor-on-Dee, Hanmer to care for Marchwiel, Worthenbury to reach out to Bronington. But sometimes we behave like ten jealous siblings, competing for attention, only concerned for our own survival. The idea of Mission Area may not be perfect, and we may resist some of the bureaucracy we associate with it, but shouldn’t we be working together as sisters and brothers in Christ?
The first commandment is to love God. For Christians, the love of God is the primary motivation for service, before the love of neighbour. We all, in our ten churches, stand before God and offer him our praise and worship, and the loving service that flows from that. As we see the love of neighbour being expressed in our communities at this time, can we also renew our loving commitment to one another across the Mission Area?