At our event How can we form a wellness plan?, the following two questions were asked. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get to them during the session.
How to navigate decision-making when feeling like one should cancel a planned event due to Covid spikes.
How to cultivate rhythms amid uncertainty
Wherever we live, there are always uncertainties. COVID has exacerbated many of these — and I recognize that Christians have different ways of navigating the pandemic.
Also, please note that our Terms of Service do not allow for providing specific medical guidance.
At a heart level, what are some ways that you have developed faithful rhythms amidst uncertainty?
And how do you make decisions when the right choice isn’t obvious?
One of the things that helps me stay grounded is thinking about the overall purpose of what we plan, at least in the church context, it is to spur one another to love and to good deeds ( Heb 10:24). If the purpose of the planned event can be expressed in alternate ways though it may not be ideal, knowing that there were efforts to maintain connection gives me a lot of comfort. I do think we will have to put substantial effort in the replacement new rhythm. For example, if we missed out on informal conversations over coffee because a church service got canceled, we do need to make extra effort to follow up on those informal conversations in other ways.
I think in most situations, the solution is not in the extremes but in the middle with some flexibility. There may be a need for reprioritizing after considering different views. When plans change, communication in a timely fashion while presenting opportunity to understand the reasons/motivations behind the changed plans hopefully will reduce stress. No matter where a person is on an issue, I think in a Christian community we all need space for acceptance and freedom of expression. A choice of plans that shows some degree of compromise to make those in the minority also feel welcome while adhering to core Christian beliefs, I think is an expression of Christian love.
Adapting to uncertainty may be something that is better accomplished through what we do in times of certainty. I am thinking of the example of Joseph in the Bible. Joseph was a given a dream that Egypt would experience seven years of famine after seven years of plenty. Joseph took practical steps for what would come. In our lives though we are not given a dream, we could still apply the principle based on the best predictors.
I am not sure if I understood the question correctly but hope it gives some ideas.