Christian Council on ageing

for older people and their life of faith and hope.

 

CHRISTIANS ON AGEING:  a resource to the Churches 

A VOICE FOR OLDER PEOPLE AND THEIR LIFE OF FAITH AND HOPE

  • Home
  • About us
    • More about us
    • Who’s Who?
    • Video
  • Being Older
    • Some facts
    • Health & Social Care
    • The Churches’ pastoral care
    • Spirituality
  • Resources
    • Bookshop
    • Publications
    • Our magazine
    • Older Prisoners
    • Prayers and Reflections
    • Helpful contacts
    • Ministry and Training
    • Ageing Issues Study Network
  • NEWS
  • Calendar
  • Contact us
    • Support our work
  • Membership
    • About our Members
    • Join or Renew Membership
    • Conferences and Conference Calls
  • Speaking Out

God is at work – a response

21st July 2020 By

“In the midst of this worldwide pandemic, is God at work?”

Having been invited to give a response to the article ‘God is at work?’ which was posted recently in Speaking Out on the website of Christians on Ageing, I must declare my credentials. I am a United Reformed Church minister, working on the south coast, mainly in the area of Bognor Regis. According to a “Which?” survey in 2019, it was the second-dreariest seaside resort in Britain, after Clacton-on-Sea.  (We have done a little better this year – pre-Covid in February we had moved “up” to fourth place.) According to the 2011 census, a third of the population was over retirement age, and this trend is likely to be replicated in the future. Currently the area has above average levels of social deprivation and mental ill-health, especially in the older population.  The second most commonly-spoken language after English is Polish. The many care homes in Bognor have historically hired a sizeable proportion of their employees from Eastern Europe. During the acute phase of the Covid outbreak, some 25% of the care homes in this part of West Sussex had Covid cases. In one street in Bognor, one home was decimated, whilst its next-door neighbour (owned by the same care provider) escaped the Covid visitation unscathed.

Is God at work? I am tempted to reply: “I hope not!” If God has been instrumental in allowing a vicious virus to claim so many lives, then he is a capricious and mean-spirited deity indeed. The coronavirus was first reported as affecting traders at a food market in Wuhan in China at the turn of the year. The jury is still out on the origin of the virus. Bats have been implicated as the “middle-man”, but in reality no-one knows. The only remedy has been the age-old one that humankind has resorted to in plagues gone by: social isolation in the form of “lock-down” of communities to contain the spread of the virus. During the acute phase of this “lockdown” in Britain, an increase in “community spirit” has been reported in many neighbourhoods and many people applauded the NHS and care workers on their doorsteps once a week. However, people, collaborative by nature, are not slow to conform to social norms, even new ones, and the acid test will be the outcome of the symbolic gesture: whether future funding reflects the erstwhile display of public enthusiasm. The Blitz spirit of the 1940s has been invoked as a parallel during the pandemic: in times of national crises, altruistic behaviour is frequently commented upon. This need not arise out of a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It may equally be hardwired into our instinct for survival as a species. The human instinct to co-operate has an evolutionary basis going back to our earliest origins.

Since 4th July 2020, churches and other places of public worship have been allowed to re-open. Many have not, especially those smaller churches whose congregations are themselves classified as vulnerable, due to age and or infirmity. It has been estimated by Age UK that some 2 million people over the age of 75 belong to the “digitally excluded” generation, in other words, without access to the internet or computer technology. Whilst online church services are witnessing a boom amongst computer-users, those who cannot participate (for various reasons, including cost, innate conservatism and a fear of the unknown) are left on the side-lines of the latest spectator sport. Furthermore, the BBC Sunday morning church service on BBC1, a lifeline during lockdown for those trapped in their own homes, or residential homes, has been withdrawn, and pensioners (unless they receive pension credit) will be expected to fund their own TV licences from August 2020.

It has been suggested that many will emerge stronger as a result of the Covid pandemic with their faith intact. Others will not. If we assert that God strengthens us through trials for the maturing of our faith, all sorts of questions arise about the benevolence and indeed omnipotence of a God who “sends” plague for punishment and is powerless (it would seem) to revoke its impact. The Bible does not tell us why we suffer; only that such things are beyond our comprehension. Look at the story of Job: the poetry is sublime but the suffering is hideous beyond all deserving – a myth for our Covid-times. But we are not talking about a causal relationship here. God does not “play dice” by jeopardising the laws of science. He is not the “first cause” of Covid 19. Rather, we should look at the other side of the equation and consider the passivity rather than the activity of the God who in the words of John’s Gospel “loved the world so much he gave his only Son”.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer mused upon the meaning of faith in the darkest days of his imprisonment in Nazi Germany. Faith is “throwing ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world”.

Is God at work?

I hope so.

 

Revd Dr Janet Hopewell

Associate Minister St Ninian’s Pagham, Bognor Regis, and Chaplain & Advocate for Older People

 

Filed Under: Speaking Out

Adjust your text size:

Zoom in Regular Zoom out

Speaking Out

There are some things which just have to be said.  We have to speak out because at the heart of the Christian message is our belief that God is not silent.  God has spoken through creation itself and the evolving universe; through the human story; through the dwelling of Jesus Christ in time; through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in each believer; through the inspiration of the scriptures; and through the wisdom and the teaching of the Church through the ages.

We use words all the time.  Words of welcome.  Words of wisdom.  Words of warmth.  Words of warning.  Words of wistfulness.  Our words are wasted if words are just words.   In the beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God.  And the Word was God.  Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him.   The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word made things happen.

As Christians, as followers of the Word, we do something about what we have heard.  Our own best words are our actions.

Please tell us what you would like us to Speak Out about by contacting:  info@ccoa.org.uk

 

Basket

Comment & Opinion

Christians on Ageing cannot deal with every issue affecting the lives of older people but it can highlight those which are causing public debate or concern.  The charity’s first task is to identify these for its members and to provide information about the nature of the debate and the variety of views and opinions being proposed.  Unless members of Christians on Ageing have been canvassed for their views or the Executive Committee has taken a policy decision, the articles here are to be considered an exploration of the issues rather than a formal comment.  The nature of the contribution to the debate will always be made clear.

Speaking Out

Our News Spring 2021

House of Lords on Ageing

We support John’s Campaign

House of Lords on Ageing in our Society

Newsletter December 2020

Churches are not part of the hospitality industry

God is at work – a response

Truthfulness in word and deed

God is at Work! (Acts 2:42-47)

Memories and Hopes

  • ALL LIVES MATTER
  • ‘From slippered pantaloon to zimmered malcontent’
  • Shorter lives, more struggle
  • Death, discrimination and deprivation
  • House of Lords Inquiry
  • National attitudes to death
  • Euthanasia
  • Older people, depression and its treatment
  • Assisted Dying

Reflect and Pray

The cross, the tomb, the glorious dawn

We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who brings us our salvation, life and resurrection.

St Paul’s letter to the Galatians

 

 

Prayers and Reflections

Postal Address

Christians on Ageing
Stoneway
Hornby Road
Appleton Wiske
Northallerton
DL6 2AF

© Christians on Ageing
Registered Charity Number: 289463

Become a Member

Christians on Ageing relies on the income from the subscriptions of its members, sales of publications and donations. If you wish to support our work please consider becoming a member.

 

Twitter feed

Tweets by ccoageing

Sign up for Christians on Ageing Newsletter

We only send occasionally, and do not share your information with other organisations
* = required field

Copyright © 2021 Christian Council on Ageing · Managed WordPress hosting kindly provided by 34SP.com · Log in