Keep Me In the Loop
Groundhog Day just passed on February 2nd. Did you celebrate it? Probably not.
It’s a holiday recognised in North America and it is based on the silly superstition that, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and sees its shadow, winter will last for six more weeks. But if it does not, spring will arrive early.
I bring that up because there’s an old movie called Groundhog Day. It’s about a weatherman on location to see if the groundhog will emerge to see its shadow. For some strange reason, the main character gets stuck in a seemingly endless loop of the same day. Every time he goes to bed, he wakes up and the same day has started over: Groundhog Day.
For many who have seen this movie, they have compared the pandemic to “groundhog day.” Every day seems to be on a loop and many have even lost track of time. In fact, we are experiencing some significant “anniversaries” for Covid-19 in Hong Kong, and thinking about this past year, I’m sure many of us have grumbled about what we’ve lost.
When the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years, there were times they wanted for things to go back to the way things were:
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. Exodus 16:2-3
Even though they were enslaved in Egypt, they would rather have gone back because they weren’t as hungry or weary as they were in the desert. They were so tired of enduring the journey that they just wanted to return to bondage.
I don’t think we have reached such a bleak outlook for the pandemic but many of us are weary. Still, I fully believe that God is calling us to something better when this is all said and done. I believe that when we look back on Covid-19 in 10 years, there will be a before and after. We will be able to see how we have changed. So don’t waste this “loop” that we’re on. Embrace it! Rejoice in it!
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:3-4