"Letters From the Exiles": The Final Letter

It has been too long. I miss you all, and I cannot wait to see you shortly. If you had told me in early March that we would all have been unceremoniously sent away for the remainder of the semester, I would not have believed you. I know this because I remember standing in Greg’s the week before talking with a friend about how the hype around COVID-19 was overblown. I also remember when the rumors of quarantine started, how a group of friends discussed spending the quarantine together in my apartment because we expected it to last two weeks. All this naïveté seems quaint now but, throughout the summer, I have been repeatedly reminded how much this virus has laid bare much of the foolhardiness of our contemporary life. We have built walls of scientific hubris that often felt like they offered the flimsy protection of wet cardboard as opinion and consensus changed at what seemed like a weekly pace. It became obvious early on that we knew very little and were constantly behind the curve of learning.

"Letters From the Exiles": Letter 2

Obviously, coming back to school this fall is by no means the same as coming home as shell-shocked soldiers from World War II, but this year has stripped many of us of the things we cling tightly to for security and comfort. Some of us have been richly blessed by our time in quarantine, while others have been miserable. For most of us, I suspect it’s some messy combination of the two and more. But as we move forward into this semester, let’s not forget God’s presence in all this chaos and just how much we need each other. Let’s use this year to learn how to truly walk with each other as we find our new normal. May the legacy of 2020 be one that made us realize our deep dependence on God and on each other, and though difficult, just how good that dependence is.