The year is winding down…. just a few more weeks and it’ll be 2022. Last year about this time, we were all thinking about how bad 2020 had been and we were all looking forward to 2021 being a better year.
Well, in some, or many, ways, 2021 has been just as difficult, and some ways more difficult, than last year — despite how excruciating 2020 was. Thinking back, 2020 was brutal — it wasn’t just a global pandemic that made things tough. Racial injustice, rioting, political division and a complete change of life as we knew it all compounded to produce a tougher year than any of us have lived through in our lifetimes.
I figured we’d be approaching some semblance of normalcy by now, but it seems that we’re far from that. In some places in the world, lockdowns continue. But even in those areas where things have fully reopened with no restrictions, the landscape is much different than it was just a couple of years ago. People aren’t flooding back to church (at least not our church) or some of the businesses like they used to. The pandemic is certainly not “over,” and while I guess some progress has been made, racial justice is far from resolved. And then of course, we can’t seem to find a central message that we can all unite around — divisions are either static or have grown deeper.
I hadn’t known about it until this year, but there is a global supply chain problem, and inflation is suddenly an issue — it’s just a highly unstable environment. I keep hearing about the “Great Resignation,” as lots (and lots) of people quit their jobs.
Last year, everyone, for the most part, was unified about a course of action to address the pandemic — at least for the first month or two. But before long, the pandemic became not just political, but partisan. I feel bad for our leaders…. everything they do — or don’t do — is too much, not enough or just wrong. And everyone is happy to let them know it.
I was just thinking the other day how the last two years have led to broken personal relationships and family tensions over differing viewpoints, and none of that appears to be letting up any time soon.
I hate to sound pessimistic, but normally we can endure things if we know there’s a solution coming or an end in sight. Unfortunately, I don’t see any easy solution in sight — to anything.
Probably, for most of us, how good or bad 2022 will be is going to come down to the choices we make — the things we say yes to and the things we say no to. My personal world has never felt smaller than it has over the past couple of years. That seems a bit strange, because our world is more connected than it’s ever been. This year was full of events with global repercussions like extreme weather events, the ongoing effects of the pandemic or the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Every day there were reminders of just how significantly something happening on the other side of the world could affect us personally. Just think about how one container ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal caused the shelves in our local stores to be emptier than I ever remember.
We all tend to be resistant to change, but the last couple of years have seen massive global upheavals that’s caused us to adjust to new ways of living — not an easy thing to do.
There’s no question that in 2022 the pandemic will continue to create huge, lasting changes that will take years to understand — and accept. But throughout history, the world has adapted to big disruptions and survived…. I’m sure we’ll do it again. I’m looking forward to 2022 even though it’ll certainly make me find ways to create new routines. I’ve heard it said that new challenges equal new opportunities. Hopefully next year about this time, I’ll be listing all the things than made 2022 the “best year ever.”
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