: Oliver Meidl
: BE STRONG (International English Edition) When we are weak, we find real strength
: Buchschmiede von Dataform Media GmbH
: 9783991394280
: 1
: CHF 4.40
:
: Sonstiges
: English
There are times when crises shake our lives and get to the heart of things! Fate sometimes has harsh realities in store for us...and to top it off, then came the Covid pandemic. Through biblical texts and contexts, Oliver Meidl unravels answers to questions of survival in an accelerated world that keeps pushing on and often leaves religion behind. From the content:•Sticking Together While Maintaining Distance•Christians Don't Have to Be Wimps•Moses Heading for a Burnout•Jesus Had a Good Sense of Humor•»Lessons Learned« in Crisis Management An entertaining »thought goulash« from Vienna-Inzersdorf with encouraging messages and sermon morsels about the strengthening power of faith in times of crisis.

Oliver Meidl, MBA MAS, ist internationaler IT-Projekt- und Programmleiter und engagiert sich als ehrenamtlicher Diakon. Er ist Autor von Fachliteratur zu globalem Webdesign, der Reiseanekdotensammlung »?? Bu Dong« und von »Mutmachertexten für Veränderungsunwillige«. Sein neustes Buch ist der stärkenden Kraft des Glaubens in Krisenzeiten gewidmet. Oliver Meidl, MBA MAS, is an international IT project and program manager and serves as an honorary deacon. He has authored reference literature about global web design, a collection of travel anecdotes titled »?? Bu Dong,« as well as »Encouraging Messages for Change Sceptics.« His latest book explores the strengthening power of faith in times of crisis.

Empty Streets, Full-blown Fears

»Corona, Corona, Corona – I’ve washed my hands twelve times now,« blasted from my cell phone to the tune of Rocco Granata’s »Marina.« I had received a message intended to cheer me up.

The frightening speed with which Covid-19 spread across the globe in the spring of 2020 showed us the disadvantages of mass mobility. Our world had literally become borderless, and that made it vulnerable. All of a sudden, everything changed. My international friends told me about empty streets in formerly vibrant cities, of dead bodies being kept cold in Spanish ice rinks, of closed beaches on the American Pacific coast, and about a walk in a Polish forest that almost led to an arrest – curfew was strict.

The attitude of a friend from Milan, Italy, a Covid epicenter in the first weeks, really impressed me: »You know, I’m taking the good that’s mixed in with the bad.« Sure, we also enjoyed the chance to get up a bit later when distance learning and working from home were the order of the day. We took advantage of the »lockdowns« to embrace a more intense family life while we maintained »online« connections to the rest of the world.

The pandemic disrupted familiar social routines and led to an unusual Lenten season. Suddenly we could no longer live our regular lives to the normal extent, let alone enjoy them. Social distancing reduced the risk of infection but came with a lack of much-needed personal interaction. We traded more security for less quality of life, even when we had time off. When everyday life shifted to the home, vacation on the balcony was called for – »staycation« instead of »vacation.«

Covid taught us a lesson in agility and adaptability to new circumstances. When you have no other choice, some things become possible that were unthinkable before! Yet, the restrictions that were imposed on us changed us. Out of fear of contagion, people stopped shaking hands when they greeted one another, and in church the »greeting of peace from a distance« by just nodding the head became common. After a while, not just people’s hair, but also their faces grew longer. With each new wave of cases, the measures that were meant to help reduce the risk of infection met with less and less acceptance. People were no longer full of fear; they were