So… the question on everyone’s lips at the moment is, “Have you had your Covid vaccine yet?”
Well, I had mine on the 3rd of March, I stood in a line of 150 people outside the Swindon Steam Museum, before I entered a room of queues ready to answer the question that every medical professional has memorised, “Have you had any Covid related symptoms in the past four weeks ……?”
Upon my answer a nurse stepped up ask me which arm I would prefer the vaccine in. She then promptly without warning stuck the needle into my right shoulder muscle, whilst expressing that I would be invited back within 12 weeks. By having this vaccine, we are not only creating history but starting to move out of what is now being titled, The post Covid-culture. Even the greatest minds of the world are unsure of what this culture completely looks like, and yet it is believed it is a combination of both past and present that will form our society moving forward.
Recently in our team devotions we have been making our way through the gospel of Mark, and I was struck by how Jesus rode into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. How he entered Jerusalem would have provoked the same question on every bodies lips, “Were you there when Jesus rode in on the donkey? Were you one of the people throwing tree branches on the floor in [enter the street name here]?”
As we explored the passage, I was struck again by how when Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, each decision that Jesus made was unreservedly countercultural and quite frankly offensive to the authorities at the time. As he entered Jerusalem that day, he was unmistakably living through history and creating a culture to come. I wonder if the great minds of the time 2000 years ago may have expressed this as a post-Caesar culture and Jesus’s entry may have been a milestone in that cultural shift.
2000 years on as we journey towards the summer in this post-Covid culture, I wonder how you will remember the milestones of the past 12 months, and what actions you are contributing to, to create a new culture where love reigns, communities are reunited, and the narrative of Jesus is alive within our conversations, thoughts and actions.
I know as Swindon Youth for Christ look to the future, we are evaluating how we take the good news relevantly to young people across this beloved town, as affectively as possible with the resources that we have. We are looking fresh to where our society is aching, and how we can bring a culture of Christ afresh. I wonder what you will be doing as you evaluate the type of culture you will be bringing.
Please join us in praying for:
- Those young people who are scared of returning to school on the 8th of March.
- Those who are still shielding due to additional circumstances and therefore may feel rejected at not being able to engage with society as it comes out of lockdown.
Dave Clarke – Director Swindon Youth for Christ