Once again, during the new lockdown, Local Lay Minister Susan Heads shares her thoughts of how the unfolding events are affecting her and offers encouragement and insight through our faith in Jesus Christ.

So we wake up this morning in Kent, out of Lockdown 2, and into Tier 3. Will I notice the difference I ask myself – probably not. Simon received a letter from the Government yesterday “Summary of advice for the clinically extremely vulnerable for each local Tier” the advice remains to avoid travel except for work, school or essential shopping, and to stay at home as much as possible. Advice that, except for a brief spell of “eat out to help out” in the Summer (which was very welcome!) has hardly changed since March. We get it, and are used to it now. Until we are able to have the vaccine, we will just carry on as we are. When I was out walking yesterday, I bumped into friend pushing her toddler in his push chair, with her 4 month old baby strapped to her chest. She was telling me how the toddler was becoming shy – becoming unfamiliar with the company of adults, and how the baby cried, probably because she could no longer see Mum’s face, every time Mum put a mask on to go into a shop. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to have at least an inkling of an idea of what is going on in the world, and to be able to process and rationalize these topsy turvy times, in a way that the very young, and some of the very old, and others in a vulnerable condition cannot. I grumble a lot to myself at the added layers of complexity around working from home, and the increased tensions that have crept into some of the conversations around the office, and with clients, fueled by frustrations at the restrictions we are all under. On the local news yesterday evening, there was a piece about shop workers suffering more antisocial behavior from customers, taking their frustrations at being asked to wear a mask in the shop, or observe the social distancing rules. The fact that this has been going on for 8 months now, is making the restrictions all the harder to bear. What may be ok, for a day, or a week or so, becomes wearing as the months drag on, like the slow, drip, drip, drip of a dripping tap, becoming more annoying the longer it goes on. On the news this morning, we heard that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has ben approved in the UK and will be rolled out from next week, although for most of us, the wait will still be a long one. I am sure all of us a feeling the impact in our different ways, and for most of us, the impact is internal, on our mental wellbeing, not something that can be seen or felt by others. My hope and prayer this morning, is for inner strength, and stamina, to stay the course, there is light at the end of the tunnel, but in the meantime, Tier 3 is where we are – but hopefully for not too long.

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