Back to School

I don't know about you, but I've found that, with the lockdown and the continued curtailment of many activities since it was supposed to have ended (never mind the restrictions that are likely to return soon, or have indeed already been re-imposed in many places), I've been finding many aspects of life growing stale.

One I have noticed particularly, although there is no actual restriction on all the component aspects, is cooking.  Never the world's greatest cook, I used to make a four-portion stew from time to time, eating one portion fresh and popping the rest into the freezer.  Nothing now prevents me getting the ingredients, and I certainly have the time, but stews haven't made a return to my agenda ... as yet.

Another aspect of life that had hit the doldrums until very recently, was my spiritual life.  When, almost overnight, churches were stopped from gathering for worship, we considered ourselves fortunate in having some clever techno-people in our congregation who very quickly - and with no little personal sacrifice - had systems up and running to provide streamed worship for any and all who liked to log in.  This proved a boon to many who suddenly found themselves confined.

It wasn't the same, by far, as being amidst the crowd, enjoying real coffee and chatter afterwards and so on, but it was much better than nothing.  When the churches were opened again for limited congregations, there was great excitement.  Conditions were changed, of course.  Seating was restricted and spread out to conform to social distancing, a strict regime of entry and exit was introduced and we all had to wear masks.  I understand that many felt the opposite to me about this situation and were glad to be back, however restricted.  For my part, I went along on that first morning but felt even more isolated than I had felt sitting at home watching on my computer screen.

In order to overcome this total disconnect, I tried to join a Zoom group, but was unable to do so.  My solution to this difficulty may or may not have something to do with years of using Excel. I've found that, if you can't get the system to do what you want with the most obvious formula, you see what other formulae are available and go about solving the problem by a different route.  

Without thought of the famous spreadsheet - initially, at any rate - I decided to see what Bible Study facilities might be available on line.  Many I looked at were aimed at totally new believers, or those seeking 'in the dark', as it were.  Some were so overtly American as to be off-putting.  Eventually I picked three, bookmarked them for future reference and set about the other end of the problem, sorting out my own life pattern to accommodate them.

That's where Excel did come in.  For many years now, I have used this 'wonder-toy' to compile a holiday programme, so I could see in one place where I was going day by day, with necessary post codes or public transport times to help get there,  what there was to see, how long I could stay there in order to be at the next site on time, and so on.  It was the work of an hour or so to extract from that the sort of simple chart that would be drawn in a school book at the start of a new year - and, in early October, the timing wasn't that far out either, come to that!

Allowing for two days working - that's one thing that, for me, has come back relatively unscathed by Covid precautions - and relatively few other regular commitments, it was easy to identify six suitably spaced slots that would enable me to allocate those three bookmarked websites to my use.  After trial and exchange, a pattern emerged that is uneven as it happens, with one website appearing three times a week, one twice and the other only once.  There is variety in the type of content, too, which should make keeping to the plan just that bit easier.

I've committed myself to a few weeks' trial and if, by the end of November, all seems to be working well, I'll stick to it.  If not, I may change things around and re-write the timetable, or think about something totally different.  Watch this space!