I have not used this blog in years, but I'm dusting it off as a result of a series of email exchanges with my family, which got me thinking...
Much of the world is experiencing, has experienced, or will experience a great disruption to "normal life" due to COVID-19. Many of us are ordered to stay at home, with various degrees of enforcement. Schools are closed, churches can't meet in person, restaurants are closed, etc. We work from home, hold Zoom meetings from home, cook at home, supervise children's education from home, etc. In a relatively short period of time, daily life has really changed!
This is essentially a period of culture shock for all of us. Not because we chose to move and live in another culture, but a different culture has essentially been forced upon us by our governments in order to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people are experiencing more disruption and others less.
We can't find our regular household products or food, have become stay-at-home parents suddenly, or are learning to work remotely. We all are limiting our in-person social interactions and shifting to virtual interactions. Technology is amazing, and living overseas I am very thankful for being able to keep in touch with family and friends in the US while I'm gone. However, it's a poor substitute for in-person community. Connections drop, delays mean people talk on top of each other, and voices digitalize, requiring much more effort than usual to communicate with others.
All of this leads to frustration, loss, grief, disappointment, and maybe even resentment. These are all normal reactions. Oberg (1960) says culture shock is, "precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols...when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed...followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety" (as cited in Grunlan & Mayers, 1988, p. 22). Does that sound familiar to anyone??? There is a new set of rules governing our lives.
We are experiencing a loss of control. As believers, we theologically assert that God is in control. This is true and we genuinely believe it. However, many of us (myself included!) live daily life thinking that we are in control. Few of us have lived in serious lack or poverty. We exhibit our wealth and control tendencies in the things we purchase, the way we plan for the future, the activities we do for fun, and the pace at which we live our lives. None of that is inherently wrong! It's good to be responsible members of society and good stewards of what God gives us, so we plan and live our lives accordingly. However, it does give us, especially as Westerners, an illusion of control. The times we are living in now are causing us to abruptly face reality and adjust our accordingly.
Grunlan and Mayers (1988) say, "...the individual quickly begins to feel like a fish out of water and must either begin to adjust to the new culture or be tossed and buffeted by it until he or she finally succombs to exhaustion and suffocation" (p. 22). Are you feeling like a fish out of water? Are you beginning to adjust or are you still in the midst of the waves being tossed around? Have you begun to find a "new normal" for whatever length of time life looks this way?
I'll continue these thoughts in the following days (like what we do with this culture shock), but for now, I'll close with an encouragement that we need grace. To receive God's grace in living with anxiety, doubts, and uncertainty. To give ourselves grace that we will not be functioning at 100%, when life is "normal." And to give grace to each other, who are equally discombobulated and trying to figure this all out at the same time.
Grunlan, A.G., & Mayers, K.M. (1988). Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective. Zondervan Publishing House
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