Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Is this even possible?  Our world has literally been turned upside down.  And none of us have ever lived through such a worldwide event.  It is sort of like what those who lived through WWII must have felt like - lives being lost, uncertainty as to the end of it, feeling out of control. Yet if we look at the art that was produced during the 40's, it is some of the richest we have ever produced!  I half jokingly always say that no good movies have been made since 1949, because so many of the outstanding ones were produced back in the day. People went on with their lives and were able to bounce back after all. But, you may say, they didn't have to wear masks wherever they went and were able to gather in the same space without fear!  True. But there also seemed to be a core to people back then - a spiritual, deeply rooted core that seems lacking today.  The world has never been so divided and it hurts. So on top of the concerns for our physical well-being and our mental health, we

I see it in the faces of those around me everywhere I go - even the masks can't hide it. People have been broken by the events of the past eighteen months.  They are worn out.  Humbled. How can this be good? When we reach the end of ourselves, where do we turn?  I am in the habit of turning to Jesus as the Source of my strength.  His strength remains the same during a pandemic.  Always. But for those who do not have the Lord, where do they go?  Stripped of all social gatherings, we were left to ourselves and those we live with.  If we relied on the bottle before, we turned to it even more. If we relied on reasoning and figuring out, we were stumped.  How do you figure out a pandemic, all of its ramifications, or its end date? Frankly I don't know how people do life without  the Lord.  We weren't built to "do life" apart from God. We were created to live in communion with our Creator.  But the damage from the fall left us (wrongly) thinking that we are on our own;