We are about seven weeks deep into this “pause” in the US. First of all, my prayers go out to all those who are sickened by this virus and all those who have been touched personally by illness or death as a result. Also, my heartfelt appreciation extends to all those who work tirelessly to take care of the sick.
For the rest of us, so far fortunate enough to have not experienced illness or to have recovered, life is much slower than normal.
Today many states in the US opened for some level of business. Retailers resumed operations with restrictions. Manufacturing also resumed with restrictions. Even elective medical procedures have resumed.
One of the big questions facing all of us as we go through this time “What does this new normal look like?” Will we have the same rights we had before? Will our jobs come back? Will the recovery be the V-shape we all hope for, or the U-shape we might be okay with? Or will the recovery be more like the dreaded L-shape?
As we each face these questions separately, we know some things for certain. Things are and will be different. We won’t live the same way we did before. We won’t work or play or even worship the same way we did before. In so many way life will be, well, just different.