IN response to John Musgrave: Sing, pray and be of good cheer, Not-so-polished Corner wrote:
Thank you for this, it is much needed – and particularly in our Churches. One of the most dehumanising impacts of the coronavirus legislation is that the incidental conversations that hone our thinking have all but disappeared as we are driven into online echo chambers. I have just returned from a Church (in Wales, free of lockdown) where I had to sit through a complete Left-wing diatribe based on the parable of the sheep and the goats – Brexit will rekindle divisions in society, Jesus was a refugee and if we don’t give a warm welcome to all, we will be judged. Of course I challenged the preacher at the end and got the bonus of ‘we will soon have the added issue of refugees driven from their homes by climate change!’ I stood my ground and we ‘agreed to differ’ although my parting shot was that I think Christianity is in for the fight of its life. But I left feeling completely deflated – I need to worship with other Christians and am deeply concerned at the stifling of prayer and praise under the banner of Covid restrictions, but the ‘long march through the institutions’ seems to be stifling worship from within and that is heartbreaking.
