In the old days, when there were telegrams, trunk calls and trolley-buses, lovers who were separated for one reason or another used to write letters to each other. They may not have been diamonds of the first water but they scored high in sincerity and affection. Often they were kept as souvenirs, heirlooms, maybe even with a lock of hair or a miniature portrait. Those were days of tearful encounters and partings on railway platforms.
Now we do things differently. E-mails, perhaps? No. More likely mobile calls. The spoken word has usurped the place that used to belong to the written word. Lovers’ meetings and lovers’ quarrel are, we have to suppose, just what they always were. More convenient, though. Less courtly, probably. Certainly, far removed from Lovelace’s: ‘I could not love thee, dear so much, loved I not honour more.’
The lockdown has taught us new tricks, new ways of keeping affection alive. This is true of keeping in touch with church members. On the 16th of the month I take a call from our lovely vicar, who does the rounds of her congregation with a cheerful inquiry addressed in turn to all those on the ‘Who’s Who’. Christ Church, Sidcup offers a regular helping of ‘lockdown wisdom’ provided by various contributors. Other churches offer a variety of such contacts.
It all comes down, amongst other things, to trading words. Gossip it often is. And there is such a thing as good gossip, as every god-parent can testify. (a gossip was originally a God-sib. a person related in God, i.e. a godparent) We like to be in the know. We scrutinise notices of weddings and deaths and keep our friendships alive with Christmas cards and timely calls. Friendships die without such aids.
So the lockdown has brought us an awareness of on-line shopping, shaggy hair-control and diverse ways of nurturing our faith. Church-going has turned into something else. We may have developed new habits. Time will tell. Sometimes an acceleration of what is on the point of blooming is helped on its way by the unexpected. Who could have foreseen the effects of 2020? Perhaps we shall find that lockdown has had a galvanizing as well as an enervating effect. It has turned our vicars into on-line performers. Anything is possible.
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