Hello Everyone!
I’ve missed coming into Grange Academy to speak at Assemblies. There are many aspects of my role as Church of Scotland Minister in Kilmarnock that I miss because of the constraints we are all under. There are many aspects of life that we all miss because there no denying we have all been affected by Covid 19. For some an inconvenience for many a period of immense worry and anxiety. When we feel blessed in life, when we experience goodness and wholeness, we turn to God in praise and thanksgiving. What happens when we experience the opposite? What happens when we are overcome by the presence of chaos, brokenness, suffering and death, or a sudden sense of our own vulnerability. We are no longer in control of our lives. Other people are making decisions for us and fear and anxiety are on the rise. We’re so accustomed to a convenient, custom-designed, there’s-an-app-for-that quality of life that we’re more shocked when things are hard. Like now, when trials rudely interrupt our lives.
All of us are concerned about carrying the virus and passing it on to vulnerable family members. Our families worry about the financial implications due to being out of work, or salaries reduced, or businesses closed.
Your parents are worried about you and the challenges you will face in the future – how will your education be affected and will there be jobs available.
Your teachers are under tremendous pressure, Grange Academy is on the front line, keeping you safe and trying to manage unpopular messages to keep you safe.
Will we ever be rid of this deadly coronavirus?
This and so much more plays on our minds which race in all directions in unhealthy ways. Perhaps we are discovering we have been more traumatised than we initially thought. By saying, “God, this is the way I feel; I leave it to you.” we let God deal with it, and in the process, we get our feelings out of us; we can begin to respond more reflectively, more constructively. Anxiety is living out the future before it gets here. Tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Today’s grace is for today’s trials. And when tomorrow’s trials come, God will have new grace waiting for you there.
We need to maintain a good mindset and heartset to not just ‘get through’ but to thrive in our school community as we respond to unfolding circumstances.
We are not helpless in light of current events reconfiguring the rhythms of our lives. We can always choose our response. If you are struggling:
Stay focused: on LONG-TERM not just short term. Time can be made up, what we’ve lost can be regained with determination and help without overburdening you.
Stay Calm: Most important in any crisis. If we stay calm well informed and making decisions based on good information – we will keep a crisis from becoming a catastrophe. If we however – respond out of fear or rumour. or even reject out of our own foolishness the good advice we are given – we not only put ourselves at risk but others at risk too. Keeping calm is a choice to not give in to fear or into anxiety. It is a choice to be mature and wise in our thinking making decisions out of an informed mind and a peaceful heart.
Stay safe: importantly, to continually make choices to keep ourselves and others safe. This is the unchanging decision to always wash our hands. To keep social distancing. To always disinfect door handles, counter tops etc. To always stay home if we are unwell or have had contact with someone who is unwell. To encourage others positively around us to do the same.
Be Strong: To keep strong in our love, care and compassion towards others. To think outward, to not turn inward. To organise and be sure your friend and neighbour has what he or she needs. To know that our neighbour being healthy is just as important as ourselves staying well.
Get outside into fresh air: It feels good to take a walk and notice things around you.
Stay in the present: When you find yourself worrying about something that hasn’t happened, gently bring yourself back to the present moment.
Stay connected and reach out if you need more support. Call someone: Talk to trusted friends about what you are feeling. If you are feeling particularly anxious or struggling with your mental health, it’s okay to ask for support. You don’t have to be alone with your worry and it can be comforting to share what you are experiencing with those trained to help.
Pray for everyone: including your parents, teachers, the health professionals, the sick, the isolated, the bereaved and all those directly involved in finding a vaccine. Pray and spend time listening to God, strengthening your relationship with him, reading his word and sharing it with others. Try it!
Whilst we are in an exceedingly difficult time, we have the resilience to get through it. Centuries ago the Bible prophet Jeremiah saw his country, and city destroyed and his people despondent, yet in the darkness of despair he said, ‘The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.’
Take that thought into every new day, be confident we are never beyond hope, fresh every morning.
And remember we are called to be focused, calm, safe and strong.
God Bless you all
Rev David S Cameron
Chaplain – Grange Academy
