It’s become a cliché to say that we are living in unprecedented times.
Plagues are not new, though, although the speed of modern travel and widespread access to it have no doubt changed how fast and how far contagion spreads. Advances in technology have also changed the way we experience a global pandemic, as we log on and look on the lives of our neighbours, whether they are next door or in a different time zone.
It’s also not new that we have a responsibility to think of those neighbours.
So who is a neighbour? The way that Jesus recounts the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke, chapter 10 tells me that a neighbour is one who shows mercy.
So who is my neighbour? Our networked lives tell me that all of you are, whether you are singing on a balcony in Milan, in intensive care in the UK, wondering how you will pay the bills with no job somewhere in the Americas, or waiting for the full force of COVID-19 to be felt in the developing world.
May we all remember to show mercy when we have the opportunity to do so, and may we all remember God’s greater mercy on this Easter Sunday and in the days and weeks to come.
Happy Virtual Easter, neighbour.
The Lord is risen!