Bit by bit, we’re moving forward through the pandemic crisis. The realist-pessimist in me says, “be cautious – autumn and winter, and even the full opening of schools, might mean renewed lockdown”. Countering that, the heart of faith and hope says, “so seize the moment you have now – what you put off for a few more weeks might end up being delayed to next spring or beyond”.

There is no excuse for being foolhardy. We are still in the midst of a global crisis where, even if personally I’m not in the highest risk groups, plenty of people dear to me are. On the other hand, we don’t want to be too cautious either. At church, we’re looking to get a few regular events running again. We are paying extra attention to safety precautions but, all things being equal, we hope to resume regular Sunday morning services by early October, among the other things that are or are planned to be back onstream.

I wouldn’t want to guess whether those will last to the end of the year or what this year’s Christmas season will look like but I think now is the time to look to find ways to begin to meet again even – or even because of – the fact that this relative liberty is something to be valued and used while it is here although we can’t rely on it continuing unabated into the months ahead.