No doubt the forced shutdowns of the past months have brought a lot of hardship.
And the hardship that's come to individuals (in terms of isolation and loneliness) and businesses (in terms of economic loss) should not be overlooked.
But, all the time people have been spending at home has had its pluses too.
And probably the biggest of these is that it's helped families to reconnect and become closer.
For years families have been getting more and more fragmented.
Up until recently, for example, it's become the norm for many families to hardly ever even share a meal together.
Yet, COVID-19 and the resulting shutdowns have helped change that.
So now... home isn't just a place for family members to crash and watch Netflix, sleep, and charge their electronic devices...
… it's a place to connect, eat together, converse, laugh, etc...
… and especially practice of the 'one anothers' of scripture...
… like love one another... bear with one another... encourage one another.
This is all a very good thing.
Because when God commissioned the first man and woman to come together and be fruitful and multiply, He made the family the most basic unit of society.
And for families – as well as society as a whole – to function as He designed, families need to stay close and connected.
We can be thankful – that in a way no one but God could have worked out – COVID-19 has helped to bring families back together.