A word from the publisher
It’s an interesting time to be alive in today’s world; the current Corona virus pandemic has truly shown that FEAR is universal irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity and political persuasions. Let us for a moment reflect on the effect of worldwide lockdown, individual isolation, shutdown of businesses, unprecedented closure of the Christian churches and the number of recorded deaths, and imagine the damage it may have done to people in terms of social, mental, financial and spiritual consequences.
Also, people’s fears and anxieties about themselves or loved ones catching the virus and what this may have done – be it life or death, and in the case of death, the inability to mourn or burying loved ones alone. Being in lockdown has created fears for some of going ‘back into the world’, and fears of adjusting to the ‘new normal’. In addition, there is also the fear of the prospect of being unemployed or getting a job with the current economic pressures.
The media has also generated a lot of fear depending on what media outlet you look at. The way the government has handled the ongoing crisis had and still creates fear, especially at the prospect of a second wave.
But on the other hand, the Corona-virus (Covid -19 ) has shown that the Holy Spirit is very much alive and working within us in abundance when we’ve seen how communities have come together. Neighbors and strangers became each other’s keeper showing love, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness and joy on a daily basis with small gestures that made a big difference and showed that it’s not just about reading the bible or going to church that made us children of God. What really matters is the way we have lived our lives through this unprecedented time. It really drew us closer together creating solidarity not always evident on a daily basis prior to the lockdown. Anyway, just a different slant given what we’ve been through. It’s been a test of our faith on so many levels, but we know there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out all fear – by walking in love we have power over fear. Love is the answer to most of the ailments in the world today because the healing power of love brings emotional healing, and this leads to good relationships with one another and often physical healing.