Recently, I was looking back at communications we sent to the Luther Seminary community at the beginning of the pandemic, in which we expressed optimism that we’d be able to reopen in just a few weeks.
More than a year later, as vaccines are widely available in the United States, we’re just now able to start thinking about it.
Will things go back to the way they were before? I don’t think that’s even remotely possible. The world has fundamentally changed. We have fundamentally changed. Yet I have no doubt that whatever new ways of living, working, and being community together emerge post-pandemic, they will soon feel as natural as life felt before.
This is the way of things. Just as winter gives way to spring, what was once considered radical becomes the status quo—until something happens to disrupt our patterns, and the cycle repeats again.
It can be exhausting and exhilarating and a little bit frightening. Yet in the midst of constant change, we can hold tight to the promises of God, who has told us not to fear.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1-2).
Rooted in this promise, let us live in hope and trust that whatever the “new normal” brings, God will be faithful to us.
Peace and grace,
Robin J. Steinke, President
Luther Seminary