…At the moment of closing the door to the church, I noticed a young woman approaching me. As I turned to her I saw that she was crying and through her tears she asked, “Would you pray for me please, because I’ve lost my faith in God.” Stunned at first and not expecting this kind of introduction, she continued “You see I moved to Canada not too long ago, and I feel so lonely and isolated. I have nobody here. And now with this virus, I feel that I have lost my faith in God. Would you pray for me please? I will maintain our social distancing, but please give me some hope…”

This is a true story, which took place during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. It is a story which talks to all of us. Loudly and poignantly. A story that can make us think of our own lives. In her case, she felt that she needed to look for help in front of a church. I don’t even know if she knew what kind of church this was. 

Watching daily news on our TV screens, or following our apps, we are horrified by the sombre images of an ongoing struggle for survival in our world. Confined to our homes, many of us could be facing questions regarding our faith in God while feeling isolated and lonely. Further difficulties we may be experiencing could range from challenges within our relationships, our financial stability, our health, personal loss, or a loss of income or a job. I can only imagine the loneliness of many of our seniors who are shut-ins or residing in nursing homes and those who are alone in their homes, where loneliness can be felt exponentially. A plea for help, as witnessed in this lady, could be overwhelming as we face our own personal crises. 

However, there was something positive in this woman’s plea to find her way back to God. By her asking for help, she knew that beyond her lost faith in God, her soul remembered the glory of hope she lost. She knew the steps to take to lead her back home. As we stood on the stairs to the Church, we prayed to God for strength and patience to return her glimpse of a lost paradise. Her smile at the end of our prayer made me believe that it was a sign of hope she needed at this time. In our own situations, being deprived of living our lives as we know it, we could be also reaching or have reached a place where we are pleading to God not to abandon us. There are moments in our own lives, when even though we have everything we need to live in comfort, we are still searching for something more, something that reaches our own inner lives. In those moments of isolation and uncertainty, even the best cup of coffee may not taste the same. In those moments even the most beautiful and extravagant style of life could be seen as daily “stuff” deprived of inner joy. Whenever we are searching for happiness, completeness, or faith and hope, let us pick up the phone and call a friend or family member, who just might inspire us. Let us pick up the Bible and be enlightened by a quote or a story the Bible offers us. Let us take the opportunity and use this time to take a walk and to be mindful of everything around us … the singing birds, the blue sky and the bright shining sun and to also find gratitude 

in everything we do have. Let us remember that everything around us is a part of God’s worldly Cathedral, where God communicates in His unique and unexpected way. Let us be the one who can reach outward to help those like the woman on the stairs of the church. Let us reach collectively and individually to God for help and for hope. The words of Archbishop Anastasios are inspiring as they are beautiful: “Let us transmit from heart to heart the light of hope.” 

There is only one thing against which we are asked to fight. We cannot close ourselves internally from the world. We cannot fall into despair while the world is looking for miracles to happen. This lady found what little strength she had to ask for a prayer at a dark moment in her life. If we accept that God is revealing to us day by day what we each need in our lives, there will always be hope. We are not a coincidence in the history of creation, but rather we are each personally made as one of His created icons. Even in the darkest moments of our lives, one glimmer of light could ignite a life-giving reaction known to God alone. 

Ask, Seek, Knock 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”. (Matthew 7:7)