If you think back to the first year of the pandemic and lockdown, you might remember that people kept saying that we live in crazy times. And in many ways, it continues to feel we’re living in a new normal in our schools, our workplaces, our socializing, and our common worship spaces. Does that mean we are still experiencing craziness? What can we think about that? We turned to Mother Christophora, longtime abbess at Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, for her view, excerpted from a longer post-paschal meditation:
If people see our time… as a crazy time, what do they actually mean?
…Indeed, we have much to grieve,
Much to regret,
Much to heal.
And much to fulfill, and refill.
Yet, we discovered the Lord was not in the wind.
He was not in the earthquake.
He was not in the fire.
But He came, a still small voice.
He came to each one of us,
In our own quiet solitude,
In our social isolation,
In the inner chamber of our hearts,
In our rooms, once we had shut the door.
…But never were we separated from Christ;
No matter how lonely we were,
No matter how empty the tomb of our hearts,
And the nave of our churches.
…A crazy world?
No. Not with the Lord.
He asks us, “Have you anything to eat?”
Yes, we have seen, and we have tasted,
How good the Lord is!
…We are not alone.
We have not been alone!
He has opened our eyes to see His face.
He is among us, in us, and with us.
From Mother Christophora [Matychak]. You can find the full meditation here.