The other day, I had a conversation with my son Kent who is an elementary school teacher in Winnipeg about some of the challenges he is facing as a teacher, teaching in a time of pandemic. He said he felt bad for the kids and what he felt they were missing out on because he simply was not able to teach them as he would like to. All the restrictions placed upon them has been very challenging. Compared to last year, this has been a stressful year for him and many of the children.
As we talked, I recalled reading about how, during World War Two when the Nazis bombed London in what is called the Blitzkrieg, the effect that had on the people of London. In a survey done after the war, many people said it had been one of the best experiences of their lives. The reason? It was during those times as they were huddled underground in bomb shelters, they built strong relationships with each other.
There is a lesson for all of us in this: “Tough times can make tough people”. They say people who look at their challenges and think, “When all this is over, we’ll be better because of it” who become those stronger people.
I remember my parents talking about their experiences of goingthrough the Depression and the Dirty Thirties. I watched how it impacted them and how they were the stronger for it.
I went on to say to my son that both his and my generations had never experienced such difficulties as we are going through, before. I suggested that if anything, we had a relatively “easy” time up till now. But thinking about it, I realized it has also tended to make us soft and even caused many of us to develop a sense of entitlement.
On the other hand, for the children he was teaching, I suggested this may become a defining moment in their lives. We may live to see them go on to do amazing things because they have weathered this ordeal.
Indeed, that is one of the Bible’s key teachings: it’s trials that cause us to grow. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” James 1:2-3.
Elsewhere the Bible says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine” 1 Peter 1:6-7.
That may end up being one of the most unexpected benefits of this pandemic.
