The Rev David Warner column: Unlocking society again

The Vicar of Mossley, Rev David Warner, discusses the easing of more lockdown restrictions but hopes the experience of the last few months has changed the community for the better.

A few days of sun and we all lose our heads... well, some did, and raced off to the nearest beach.  The British weather changed again and they all rushed back. 

I am almost allergic to beaches except in the depths of a blustery winter, so wasn’t getting my bucket and spade ready! 

The next steps on the journey to ‘unlock’ our society have been taken and many of us are excited by the idea of holidays, going to the pub, and weddings and other celebrations being able to take place.

There needs to be proper caution of course, and lots of precautions still in place, but the world around us is starting to feel a bit more normal. 

Then again, will it ever feel ‘normal’ again, or should it? 

Perhaps we’ll slip into old ways and take things for granted as all of us did before - being able to do whatever we want whenever we feel like it.

But I hope that lockdown and the experiences of the past few months have changed us as a community in lots of small ways.

Hopefully it has made us more grateful for those whose work may be poorly rewarded and unseen, but is the stuff on which we all rely for our day to day lives. 

Let’s hope too that relationships built with neighbours and new friends can be maintained and strengthened.

Crisis leads us to find out who people really are - when push comes to shove, who we can or can’t rely on. 

In this community, where so much has been done to keep others safe, and will go on being done, we can be grateful for the opportunity to show others we care. 

As we celebrate rediscovered freedoms in the days ahead, let’s raise a cheer for those who have worked throughout the past few months to keep everything we need going.