The second voice in this series of thoughtful people is dear friend Gisela Kreglinger, PhD, pondering on what’s being shaken and purified in this season:
The world has changed in a heartbeat—changed in ways that we could never have thought before. Sometimes I think of Mother Earth shaking us off her back because we have been handling her so poorly and now she is telling us to stop, become sensible, and listen.
This Covid-19 crisis has brought a lot to the surface: personally, in our families, in our societies, and the world at large. The lockdown itself, the self-isolation for those who do it, has forced us to befriend ourselves, our homes, and our families in new ways.
It is challenging but also good. We are entering more deeply into the life that is nearest to us. We can't run away as easily as our culture of entertainment and distraction has offered to us in the past. We are now forced to find peace with those nearest to us: ourselves, our families, and neighbors.
This is what God has always called us to and I want to be receptive to what God wants to do in my life as I am tucked away at home. Rowan Williams writes in his book Silence and Honey Cakes (a book about the Christian desert fathers) that the monks’ calling is "to become fire." I believe this is what we are called to become: burning souls for God's presence and redemption in this world.
Right now He is purifying me from distraction so I can enter into His presence in more stillness to really listen to Him and what He is calling me to do. Listening to God has been a spiritual practice for all of my adult life but it seems that this season of Covid-19 is a time to be still and listen even more intensely.
Let's listen together and, when the storm passes, God will rebuild His church.
Let us be ready to respond to God's call with a passion and joy to rebuild His purified church. It will be smaller and perhaps more marginalized but God's church has always been most faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ when it was marginal. Political power and Jesus power don't usually go together. Political power and forcing God's ways into society is never a good idea. Christ's way is that of a suffering servant who lowers Himself to lift up the brokenhearted. This is our work. Let us do it together and only in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
Gisela Kreglinger, grew up on a family-owned winery in Franconia, Germany where her family has been crafting wine for many generations. This unique experience has inspired her to write books (The Spirituality of Wine, The Soul of Wine) which explore the how the mystery and wonder of wine helps us embrace a full-bodied, joyful Christian life. She holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of St. Andrews and after traveling the world, lives in Birmingham, AL. She leads wine pilgrimages in Europe and trips to the British isles exploring Celtic spirituality.
