Do you have childhood memories of road trips? Whether it was a two-hour drive to visit grandparents or the long haul to Disney World, there came a point in every childhood road trip at which I was simply ready to be done. I was done counting out of state license plates and playing cow bingo. I was done looking for funny signs. I was simply done. This usually resulted in annoying my parents with different versions of, “How much longer until we’re there?”
I’m not much better as an adult. Some years ago, a friend and I road tripped to visit another friend in Indiana. We woke up one morning in Indianapolis, got in the car, and drove to Charleston. We were somewhere in Kentucky when I realized I was done. The worst part of the trip came when I dropped my friend off at his house in Mount Pleasant. It was an interminable 20-minute drive from his house to mine. I was so close! Why couldn’t I just be home? Yet, I knew in Kentucky the same thing I knew in Mount Pleasant. The only way to be done is to keep going.
I think I’m starting to feel that way about COVID-19. South Carolina’s infection numbers continue to rise. People continue to suffer. The uncertainty about things that were once certain is taking a spiritual and mental toll.
Yet, I must remind myself of the same lesson I learned in Kentucky and Mount Pleasant. The only way to be done is to keep going.
I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but I do know that at some point I can put away my masks.
At some point, I can hug necks and shake hands. At some point, Central’s campus will be bustling with people and the sound of the assembled people will be like choirs of heaven. But, the only way to get there is to keep going.
When we shared Central’s reopening plan, we fully anticipated moving into Phase 2 of reopening around this time. That, however, is no longer the best way to proceed. Until COVID-19 cases decline, we will remain in Phase 1. In the meantime, let us not lose hope. There is an end to the pandemic. There is an end to social distancing. Like a child on a road trip, none of us truly knows when this long, difficult trip will end, yet we can be assured that the end will come.
Still, the only way to get there is to keep going.
In worship this week we will read from Psalm 139. In Psalm 139:7 the Psalmist asks God, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” To summarize, the answer is nowhere.
There is nowhere we can be and nothing we go through that God is not with us. God is with us and God is for us. Until this season is over, let us keep going.
Yours in Christ,
Thomas W. Smith