This week was supposed to bring Freedom Day - that long-awaited date when all remaining Covid restrictions would be lifted.   In the early part of this year, we felt encouraged by having a proposed date to look forward to when there would be an end to social distancing, restrictions on numbers meeting indoors, the wearing of face masks etc.  We have endured all of those unwelcome rules for the past 17 months in the hope that we would soon be able to return to a life more like normal.  But that day hasn’t come yet.

We have all experienced the awful consequences of this world pandemic in one way or another, whether losing a loved one to illness (Covid or non-Covid related), or foregoing the precious opportunities to spend time with other people.  Some have suffered devastating financial consequences or loss of home, others have been denied opportunities to travel, to have their wedding, to graduate, to meet someone special, to take a driving test, to receive education in person or simply to go out to the shops.  We have experienced unprecedented restrictions on our personal freedom, but we understood that it was for the common good, in the hope that we would be set free from the ravages of this pandemic.

As I write my blog this week, I sense huge sadness and impatience that we aren’t out of the woods yet.  After months of patiently waiting and hoping, we all thought the discovery of the vaccine and its speedy roll-out would be the panacea to the world’s problems.  We even hoped that our increased awareness of nature’s beauty and our reduced ability to travel around the world might prove a turning point in tackling the environmental crisis of global warming.  We have all realised the attractions of staycations, and we are looking at our own country with renewed interest and appreciation.  We have been counting our blessings but we are finding it more difficult as time goes past.

The numbers of those contracting Covid are once more rising with alarming speed and many people are being required to isolate because of phone alerts.  Last year we recognised the need to protect the vulnerable and elderly by obeying restrictions, but at this point we now need to protect the younger age groups who haven’t yet been vaccinated, even if we ourselves have been double-jabbed.  So whilst we all look forward to restrictions being lifted, we only want that to happen when it is safe for everyone to live in greater freedom.  Otherwise a different demographic becomes most at risk, in addition to those who are shielding.  And anyone is liable to be ‘pinged’ by the Track and Trace contact app which leads to continuing restrictions and uncertainty.

Freedom is a wonderful gift, and one day we will be in a thankful position to enjoy it.  But rather like older generations who lived through the uncertainty of previous wars, civil unrest or pandemics, we have to dig deep to find patience and optimism, and we have to accept that we cannot expect immediate results, even in an age of next day delivery.  We are compelled to wait for an outcome which is difficult to predict, but until the situation is resolved for everyone in every country and every age group, freedom celebrations seem premature.

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 21^st July 2021            sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk