For more than a year, most of us have lived under some restriction. We’ve had lockdowns, shutdowns and mandates that have tested our resolve and our patience. We’ve handled them in a variety of ways with varying degrees of success. Probably all of us know people who have been sick and even died during this pandemic.

As of press time for this edition, about 25% of adults in the U.S. had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine injection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were revising guidelines to ease restriction recommendations for people who had been fully vaccinated. Local health departments, too, were relaxing guidelines on gatherings. For many of us, relief appears near and we’re eager to return to life the way it was before the pandemic.

However, life may not return to what we’ve called “normal.” Rather, we’re experiencing the evolution of a new normal. Some of our economies have shifted, our workplaces have improved our ability to work remotely and to have flexible hours. Businesses and schools may continue to offer remote options and other experiments from the last year because, for some, the new procedures are better.

In the grand scheme of humanity, this change (dare I call it progress) is normal. God created us as reasoning, learning beings able to use our knowledge and skills to improve ourselves and society. In that context, the trials of the pandemic are growth opportunities.

It’s time to let go of the pandemic politics, especially the arguments over restrictions, masks and vaccinations, and focus on God’s will, on charitable works, on lifting each other and being a light to others.

Thy will be done.