John was a wild guy, even in his own time over two thousand years ago. He lived in the woods, ate weird food, and talked about the future. He came from a well-regarded family, but chose a wacky life away from civilization. He would be like the hippy son of a Kennedy that became strung out, uncouth, with unconventional ideas. Fortunately, no lobotomy for John, prophets were still well-received in his time, even if he was a bit out there. But John’s job was to talk about what was to come. While his followers and audience assumed he was a prophet, John always directed them to the next big thing, the coming of the Christ. Stepping away from the active schedule of life in the first century, John had clarity in his perceived madness to see beyond. Beyond the fear, beyond the societal beliefs, beyond day-to-day distractions, he found this clarity in a primitive backdrop of the wilderness, eating locust and honey.

Today the losses are starting to overwhelm, compiling in our heads like six feet of dirt and distance. For me and my community, living in a small rural town, connecting with people is as a part of our being as the red clay under our fingernails. We are not at big city devastation, but we have lost crops to frost and flooding, our beloved community restaurant to fire, and a few citizens to a disease that we do not understand. But what we’ve also lost is our ability to hug and cry over each other’s shoulders. To hold hands together when we all hurt. To grieve like we have in the past.

But our community will still be the community. Even in separation, we will find a way to come together. I do not know what it will take but I do know that we are learning now what we need to do. To find our strength, sometimes we must separate. Like all of our great prophets, we must take our time away, in the wilderness, to reflect on our future and listen to our new teaching without distraction.

If what we learn in this time of distance moves us into a better tomorrow, then I say bring it on! Bring on the rain, we will plant again. Bring on the frost, our fruit will tolerate stress. Bring on the fire, we will build something better. Bring on the lockdown, we are gaining confidence to survive on our own. Bring on home school, my children are learning a truth beyond the classroom. And bring on the contradictions in the media, we are learning that we must trust ourselves. To shine light in our corner of the world, will be our legacy, will be our truth, will be our “new normal.”

Our community is not lost, we are in the wilderness. We can emerge with a strength, conviction, and compassion greater than before. We are in a time of study, which is why we are taking in all of this new information. It is overwhelming, like studying for a big test. We need to study in the quiet. We need to reflect in order to act. Our time spent in the wilderness will matter in the end.

What if we can get out of this with a new reality. Instead of just two sides, we learn of a third. We began to broaden our thoughts, decisions, and ideas, beyond a dualistic reality into a triangulation. One side plus the other side equals a better way. A way that is not in combat but promotes the human potential. As an individual, we each have the potential to walk away better than before. But what if, as a society, we can also walk away better. What if now is the time to think up new systems for society, dig deeper to define self, and return to our relationship with the Something Greater that we forgot about when we were so busy. If this brings us a greater respect for God, self, family, and those who matter to our society, then I’ll certainly eat a few bugs!

Melanie Winter

Melanie is the Director of Marketing and Content Writer for WinternetWeb Technologies.

Melanie writes content for clients to promote marketing and branding in her web development business. She also writes for a blog and local community history projects and publications. She earned a Bachelors from Virginia Tech in Communications, English, and Religion. Melanie also enjoys writing fiction, spending time with her two daughters, antiquing, gardening, and community volunteering.