We are all in the boat! Over the years we’ve sent you email updates because our life takes place in such a different context that it was helpful to share about it. But now, in this Age of Pandemic, most likely our lives look very much the same. Travel is restricted. Only one household member per day is allowed to go out and then only for one hour and only if the purpose is listed as Essential; groceries, medicinal, to help an incapacitated family member, unavoidable civic business (law, court, fines, renewals, etc.) If the one family member who does go out does so for exercise, they must remain within 1 km (less than a mile) of their residence. And each time that household member does go out, even for exercise, they must have on them a self-signed declaration form with the current date, address, purpose of outing, and the hour they left (to make sure you stay within the 1 hour limit) or they face a fine if caught by roaming police. Wow. Welcome to our world.
So with these restrictions, what would happen about church? Of course it is essential… just not essential for broader public safety I guess. Very quickly people were jumping aboard the virtual church train!! And most often that happens with zoom. Even our church here in France started going digital.
Going digital has been a blessing, but also some care must be taken. Zoom for example has already been in trouble before for being underhanded in what they install, and most recently were caught sending info to Facebook, even if you don’t have facebook. Yikes! Because it seems to work the best, it is also being used the most. I prefer to avoid it when I can because of it’s track record. There are other options, some open source, such as Jitsi Meet and Kopano, and even Riot/Matrix I think has a video option. But how many of us are conversant enough to whip up our own server and install these free apps, and have it run well enough to manage 10, 30 or 400 participants!? Well, do what you can, and try to use other options. I think using zoom is going to leave many with regrets eventually.
Speaking of being online, one of the ways I’ve been helping others overseas is by setting up and managing websites and emails. If you find this is something you’d like to have, or indeed have to have with the Stay-at-home protocols, write me an email. I am sure I can help you out.
In the meantime, there is lots to do in the analog world! Like sitting outside and trying to burn out a stump!