Duty (not me, the concept) in times of Covid
This past year of Covid-dampened life has seemed at times like a science experiment. We watch changes to our environment, the closed businesses, the institutions trying to adapt and stay relevant, the surging of behaviors that, while growing prior to Covid, have now catapulted to the norm, such as videoconferencing, remote work, virtual church, etc. and we try to gauge where it is taking us, what it means for community and church and what it will mean for our next “new normal.”
It will be interesting to see the extent to which behaviors snap back to pre-Covid norms once our freedom to choose is again less-encumbered. The freedom to choose is one of the differentiators of modernity from earlier times, the gradual breakdown of authority and the increasing importance of preference.
We are constantly choosing, from the consumer choices that are always changing and evolving, to lifestyle choices, from simple things like diets and exercise programs that are constantly gaining steam then vanishing, to more consequential decisions which are, as choices to be made, seen as an inviolable freedom from questioning. At the same time, we have instant access to people from around the world and are confronted with diverse opinions, options of thought and approach. In today’s world, the emphasis in all of this is on the choosing more so than on the content of the choices.
Its just easier. Everything flows so much more if we only allow our choices to be preferences rather than true matters of conscience. We are nicer people and we are not out of step with our times. Besides, we sometimes half-subconsciously think, there is always another choice around the corner if we are not happy.
This year of Covid-induced habit disruption has brought increasingly to light the ways in which our evolving modern habits inoculate Christians from deepening our faith. It seems a case of the “emperor’s new clothes” being shown for what they are in some respects. For one thing, at least for me, church online is such a downer, and attending in person, where there are not even enough people to dull the echo of the cavernous emptiness is jolting. Without the lattes, the conversations with friends, the lively atmosphere and the rest, what is the point? Well?
Do we ask ourselves that question enough, Covid notwithstanding?
Are we falling in line with this age’s obsession with preference or are we seeking to deepen matters of conscience?
Not all jolts are bad.