³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Chine McDonald

Good morning.

Sunday afternoons during lockdown have led to a new tradition in our house, of revisiting some of our favourite films from childhood. From Disney classics such as Lady & The Tramp to sport favourites such as The Mighty Ducks and a firm favourite in my house growing up (although hardly anyone I know has ever heard of it) The Happiest Millionaire, a cheesy, twee and entirely saccharine musical.

These films are perfect accompaniments to a Sunday afternoon, which follows a roast dinner that has become a sacred ritual to distinguish the end of one week from the beginning of another. In these strange days, many of us are finding comfort in nostalgia. There are moments in which I find myself in what feels like an out of body experience, looking down on life as it is now and finding it unbelievable, strange, alien. It’s the masks and the hand sanitiser and the eerily post-apocalyptic emptiness of the high street. It’s the people I love and value – friends, family and colleagues – reduced to 2-dimensional figures in screens. In these strange times, nostalgia is like a comfort blanket. Many of us are returning to the things we have enjoyed in the past in order to feel again the emotions of joy, euphoria, laughter, excitement. Feeling those things again helps to keep us going, reminding us of what we have felt before and what we will one day feel again.

While we wait for life to open up again, and the nightmare of this pandemic to be over, I’m going to keep returning to the familiar anchors of favourite films and foods and songs, until we can meet again with friends and family and make new memories in 3D. Dear Lord, thank you that you are our comfort. In the hard times, in the loss and the loneliness and uncertainty and anxiety. Help us to have a sense of a peace that passes all understanding. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen.