Proverbs 17:1 “Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.”
Proverbs 15:17 “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”
Ecclesiastes 4:6 “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”
Strolling in a nearby park on Saturday with members of my family, I spotted small clusters of others enjoying the outdoors together. I wondered how many of these families were experiencing togetherness for the first time in a long time. Kids can’t visit friends and parents are weary of being cooped up on video calls or out of work. Our only option for in-person human interaction comes from family members or roommates; our best bet for entertainment is a ramble in nature.
Despite the real or imagined threats of the COVID-19 virus, this newfound family togetherness can be a beautiful thing. There is an essence of wholesomeness and innocence to it. We are all Swiss Family Robinsons now, each family surviving on its own little quarantined island, relying primarily on the members of our own households for conversation, assistance, human closeness, and group goals and activities.
In relationships, as in many other things, we have entered a period of involuntary simplicity. We’re experiencing a strange stillness from road traffic, nonessential shopping, youth sports, music and dance lessons, social events and obligations, and even the daily rituals of leaving home for school, work, gym, and coffee shop. It brings to mind the shmita (year of sabbath rest) described in Leviticus 25. God commands six years of farming followed by one full year of letting the fields sit untended and unharvested, only picking the food you need at the moment from whatever happens to be growing there. This is nothing short of radical. It goes against everything our instincts and precautions tell us to do. It demands full trust in God and an understanding that ceaseless production and activity can give the illusion of life while actually robbing us of it.
What is this time of forced isolation doing to you? Is it multiplying your worries and irritations while raising the level of strife in your home … or is it making you a better person, more connected to loved ones, living a simpler, less-distracted life? While COVID-19 restrictions last, why not embrace the simplicity and family togetherness God is giving us?
Father, thank you for always providing for my family, these loved ones I share life with in close proximity day after day. They are precious to me. Please let us live and pray together in such a way that we look back on this unusual time with fondness. Draw us even closer together. Most of all, draw us closer to you.
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This week: Ask your family members how they’d like to spend time together this week. Is someone a fan of board games, cleaning out the garage, or exploring the outdoors? Even if interests differ, encourage everyone to join in together. It’s far more about enjoying time with loved ones than the activity itself. And don’t forget to suggest a time for everyone to gather and pray – for one another, for the needs around you, and for the world.
