Getting back to normal

John 21:1-3 “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.  Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

I must admit, as I view the prospects of emerging from the abnormal brought about by the pandemic into what has been dubbed the “new-normal”, I find myself questioning what do we mean by normality. 

Brandon Ambrosino, a freelance writer, in an article for the BBC asserts, “The new normal, in other words, changes what was wrong but keeps what was right with the old normal. But if the old normal was wrong, then why did we call it normal? Similarly, if the new normal is different from the old one, how can we pretend we’re still dealing with “normal”?”

Confused! Well this was the situation that the disciples found themselves in during the post Easter period. From the gospel record it would appear that the disciples yearned for some kind of the old normal and returned to their former work as fishermen on the Sea of Tiberias. 

Yet, it was even here in the familiar that the Risen Jesus meets his friends as they returned to their life as former occupation. They find him close to them as they go about their work. He makes it bear abundant fruit, precisely when they felt they had laboured a whole night in vain. Perhaps in our post Easter situation we should ask to be able to encounter the Risen Lord, and that our work will bear abundant fruit through his presence.

Also, in our minds eye, should we too stay with the image of Jesus cooking breakfast for his friends. As if he had nothing better to do: couldn’t he go to the Temple to address the crowds, or on Calvary to show them he was alive, so that they believe in him? He chooses to spend time in intimate contact with his friends, preparing them for their mission after his departure, giving them a strong experience of his closeness. Do we give enough time to develop our relationship with Jesus, or am I too busy doing ‘good things’ for him, trying to conjure up a new normality of our own making?

Prayer:  Gracious God, thank you for the gift of our minds.  We praise you for the blessings you give: in how we can grow in what we know, be wise to live in your ways, and come to understand the depth of your Kingdom’ purpose in us. For your transforming truth that would refresh and renew our minds in you today and always, we bless you, through Jesus Christ our Light of Truth and Life.  Amen