Yes – it has really happened. Today is day 14 of our quarantine. We have had our final checks, and now we are free to leave – to walk out of the hotel and go free. Without any of the restrictions of the past two weeks, or even those of the past 8½ months.
New Zealand is Covid-free. And – apart from its closed borders – life here is carrying on as normal.
Not so, sadly, in the UK which – as the vaccine is slowly rolled out – continues with its tiered restrictions. And, even when a majority of the population has been vaccinated, life will be very different, and certainly not a return to normal as we have known it.
For Lois and I these restrictions have hardly been more than a minor inconvenience, and I am – once again – aware of how privileged and blessed we are.
For so many people that is not the case. There are so many for whom the pandemic and the lockdown restrictions have brought, and continue to bring, hardship – bereavement, loneliness, loss of their livelihoods; financial struggles, anxiety and stress.
And so, as we walk out of our quarantine hotel, my prayer is – for all whose lives continue to be affected by the pandemic, the advent prayer:
‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.’
May it be so.
