Recently, I’ve been listening to an audiobook of On Grand Strategy. The author, John Lewis Gaddis, is a history professor who has taught at the Naval War College and various universities, and now at Yale. In a section where he discusses Queen Elizabeth I of England and King Philip II of Spain, he makes the point that some leaders expend more resources trying to reclaim what was lost or retain what they have than they expend trying to expand.
That seems relevant to our current situation. In the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic, people are starting to talk about getting back to “normal.” But what is normal? On the one hand, we could try to simply rebuild the economy and society exactly as it was. In other contexts, though, such an attitude would be seen as reactionary and ridiculous. After World War II, we didn’t try to simply return to pre-war society. We re-built with a different approach to industry. Mobility was different. Civil rights struggles came to the forefront. On the world stage, the United Nations was born so that we would have a different approach to diplomatic relations.
So what will the future look like? A recent column discussed the long-term psychological and sociological impact. Will we change our approach to public gatherings on a permanent basis? I don’t know. I do know that a lot of institutions that were on the edge of viability will fail. A lot of churches are financially struggling. A lot of colleges are financially struggling. I’m not optimistic about the near-term future of the travel and tourism industry.
This is our chance to build a better society. The pandemic has exposed many glaring weaknesses of the existing one. The idea of health insurance being tied to employment, born during WWII as a response to wage controls, is now revealed (to everyone, not just the more insightful) to put people at serious risk when they lose their jobs due to economic contraction. In the education sector, we are seeing what works online and what requires physical presence. We are learning how much we rely on each other—that the US is not a collection of individuals, but rather an interconnected community that depends on symbiotic relationships among us all.
I read a devotion on this week’s lectionary text about the road to Emmaus in The Christian Century (thanks, Robert, for the gift subscription!).
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Luke 24:13-35
The gist of the devotion is that Jesus was not just saving the world, but also that he savored life. We see here that Jesus spent time in relationship with two of his close friends. This was not about transferring information to individuals. This was about enjoying their company, growing with them, savoring the little things that make life worth living.
What comes next? I don’t know, but my intention is to focus more on relationships, both professional and personal. The Great Commandment tells us to love God and love our neighbors. This is our chance—my chance—to turn away from what’s convenient or expedient and focus instead on what’s important: showing this love, my love of God, my love of my neighbors, and God’s love of the whole world.