Back to school!  Or not. . .  Usually there is a lot of excitement about the return to school, if for nobody but the parents.  But this year it’s all shrouded in uncertainty.  What is the right thing to do, send them or not? Parents and teachers are asking this everywhere because of the Covid 19 virus. And there are no easy answers, and there are strong opinions on each side of the equation.  We all want things to be normal, especially for our children, but who knows what is right?

My Daughter and Son-in-law went through the tough decision process and wrestled with sending my grandson to the first grade, an important milestone. At the end-of-the day, we are doing virtual first grade on a computer with his teachers, with myself being his school master. For all of us, it seemed the safest thing to do for the little guy. Besides, I am convinced he can learn more than in the actual classroom–but the challenge will be keeping him on task at Pop pop’s (my) house, which is usually a fun zone (and not all that disciplined). Maybe it’s because his Pop Pop is all about fun and is not all that disciplined – anymore.

Tough decisions.  Life is full of them. Some matter. Some others, not so much.  But the pandemic has forced us into decisions we never ever thought about before, or could have dreamed six months ago that we would have to face: To go to school; to play college football; to wear a mask or not; to avoid crowded venues; to eat in at your favorite restaurant; to go to the Dentist. Our new reality is a bitter pill to swallow for many. Maybe science will save us, and not religion.  After all, church is a mighty dangerous place these days, at least in person.

But here is the truth why we want to send our kids to school: We like the security of knowing.  And if we go about business as usual, then at least things seems normal and that is comforting. There are so many unknowns, so many unforeseeable implications, and so many uncertainties. We all want our kids in school, it’s the way things are supposed to be and we take comfort in that return to the routine, the expected, the normal.  Yet we can’t be sure it is the right thing.

And maybe we need college football for the same reason- to let us know at the deepest level our society is really OK. We want this pandemic to be over, heck it’s been since March now, and we can only take so much uncertainty.

The truth is, we have never been comfortable living on the street called ambiguity.  We are drawn toward the sure, the certain, the absolute.  We like our religion to be ambiguity free as well, we want to know and we want to be sure.  Dogmatic beliefs based on propositional theology where the Bible is a rule book will always sell, it puts our shaky lives on firm ground.  But that foundation might only be slippery sand when the unpredictable visits our house.  The problem has always been, but especially obvious now, that every single day is an uncertain one.  And we recoil as a people and as society at the insecurity unpredictability brings.  So we at least want to put on the façade of normalcy, and maybe we can fool ourselves into thinking that it is so. It does feel good for a while, until another dose of reality catches up with us and slaps us around.

So where does God fit in during a pandemic?  It’s a good question.  It appears like there is no divine intervention on the horizon, no miracles, although I am sure many individuals would testify to the veracity of such in their own lives.  But it seems that the pandemic must run its course, and whatever hope there is lies in science.

But a funny thing happened in the midst of the storm.  Even though most all churches and houses of worship are closed, 24% of Americans have said their faith has grown during the pandemic and only 2% said it has become weaker according to a new Pew Research Center Poll. 

So maybe God is busy doing what God does—working on our souls, reminding us that when God seems far away, God has really not gone anywhere.  Maybe we are the ones who have done all the moving, who knows.  And maybe we are the ones he tasks with taking care of the rest. For me and my house, I remember a favorite old hymn:

When darkness hides His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

So for all who crave certainty, where are you standing?  As for me, I’m standing with science and keeping our first grader out of school.   But I’m also standing on Christ, church or not, a sure foundation, especially now when everything seems like sand under our feet.   He has held me up more than once in a crisis. And that is a sure thing.