As life slowly returns to the way we used to live, or back to normal as many like to say, I find myself reflecting on the last season of life and the legacy left behind by Covid as it fades into the background but lurks in the bushes.

It is almost impossible to find the words to describe the last 2 years and I imagine each of us would paint a different picture. As for me, compared to so many, I have not been hugely affected. For others, loss and fear are overwhelming emotions and I would not even begin to articulate how their lives have been changed.

A word that lingers in my mind as we step into a new season is ‘infectious’.This word is now part of our everyday vocabulary, just as lateral flow tests and isolation have become the ‘norm’ to prevent us from being superspreaders! We watch those 2 drops fall onto the lateral flow and wait impatiently to see if we are safe to venture out our front door. We don’t want to be infectious, to pass on this tiny virus to someone we love, a vulnerable friend or family member.

Yet, what if we shifted our view of the word infectious?

When we think about infectious our thoughts turn to illness, to being unclean, to avoidance or even to self-protection. Close contact has become dangerous and you think carefully before exchanging a hug.

There is an alternative way of being infectious, one that doesn’t lead to isolation or fear. ‘She has an infectious laugh, her enthusiasm is infectious, she infects us with her passion.’

Our very personalities are infected and we are often completely unaware.

Some of us are infected with pride, judgement, self-promotion, longing for approval, a need for likes on Social Media, wishing for affirmation, so self-absorbed that we infect others with a real sense of insignificance. I wonder if some of us were judged harshly, disapproved of, cast aside or humiliated and now we pass this on to others.

I wonder what my personality is infected with?

I know the type of infectious personality I want to have. I hope I am growing positive character traits day by day and as I do I hope they can infect others

Let me share a few of those traits I long to be infected with.

Love ❤️ that is unconditional, given freely to those feeling unloved and discarded.

Peace that guards my heart and can calm the most violent storm another is walking through.

Humility that allows me to go unnoticed so I can celebrate others and their day by day triumphs.

Boldness that allows me to befriend a broken person who has been judged and discarded by others.

Gentleness that allows others to feel safe, secure and loved regardless of how they have been treated in the past.

Generosity that shares what I am fortunate enough to have and introduces them to the abundance of God.

Joy that is not dependent on circumstances or dismissive of someone else pain but is rooted in a faithful God whose heart is overflowing with love, a love that is not dependent on how good you are but is given freely to everyone.

Not that I have all these traits, but I hope I am on a journey of growing them day by day.

Jesus already has unconditional love for you, His peace calms every storm, He is humble and celebrates you where you are, He is bold and sees every broken heart and wraps His arms around you, He is gentle, safe and secure, He is the God of abundance and He can fill us with an inexplicable joy.

John 10:10 AMP The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy. I ( Jesus) came that they may have life and have it in abundance ( to the full, till it overflows).