Editor @Salann

The last few days has seen three fairly momentous twists in the COVID saga, a public address by the Queen, the resignation of Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Catherine Calderwood, and the admittance of Prime Minister Boris Johnson into hospital, then intensive care.

On Sunday, the nation tuned in to watch ‘Her Maj’ address the nation on the COVID-19 crisis and encourage us that we will go on to ‘better days’. Whatever your views on the monarchy, her sentiments and quiet, peaceful manner cannot have failed to affect you.

She is a remarkable lady, who has held office since the 1950s and helped guide the UK through wars, political upheavals and other challenging times. I have no doubt that her ability to reign for so long, in such a constantly gracious way, is the result of her strong Christian faith.

Calderwood’s resignation as Scots CMO was somewhat of an inevitability. She journeyed from Edinburgh to her holiday home in Fife (yes, Fife) on not just one but two occasions, in recent weeks. After pictures emerged of her near the home, it was quickly pointed out by the media that she was in defiance of her own public health advice. ‘Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’.

The calls of hypocrisy came from all quarters with everyone from broadsheet journalists to the Twitter mob demanding that she stand down immediately or be sacked by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. ‘What makes her think the rules don’t apply to her?’ ‘Is it one rule for us, another for the rest of them’. ‘How dare she’.

Commentator Piers Morgan, belligerent as ever, said Calderwood could have done ‘untold harm’ by travelling as she did – even going as far as suggesting people may have died from her spreading of the virus. This is, admittedly, unlikely. But her transgression of the rules stands.

After initially saying that she would value Calderwood’s ongoing advice – she is after all an expert who has been in charge of Scotland’s public health response to the virus since day one – Sturgeon realised the ‘impossibility’ of that option, and accepted her letter of resignation.

If Calderwood’s resignation was obvious, the Prime Minister’s downturn in health was not. As late as Friday last week Johnson was tweeting videos of himself to say his symptoms were still there but that he was on the mend. But on Saturday, Downing Street said he was going to hospital for tests and on Sunday night, news came through that he had worsened and been admitted to intensive care.

Another shock was the reaction of the public – vast swathes of whom are ardently opposed to Johnson’s politics. Immediately after news came through, messages of good will poured in for the PM and his fiancé Carrie Symonds from the leaders of all the main political parties, left-wing journalists and others normally out to get him. 

Their respect and concern was so profound that the small minority of individuals who took to Twitter to celebrate his poor health – one awful Tweet simply stated ‘I hope Boris dies. I hope Boris dies. I hope Boris dies’ over and over – were jumped upon as immoral, crass and lacking human empathy.

The messages of support for the PM is not to say that his opponents will lay off him as soon as he’s back on his feet, but it does show that even in the intensely divisive political era we inhabit, empathy, compassion and respect are still values which people hold dear.

Something else that was shocking (in a good way) was the number of people who said they are praying for Boris Johnson. The hashtag #PrayForBoris was trending for several days on Twitter – no mean feat – and the phrase appeared in practically every newspaper, news bulletin and radio broadcast.

In the last few days, polling also emerged to suggest that more people in the UK are praying more generally just now, out of concern for the virus and loved ones.

Not everyone who says they will pray does. And not every prayer is to the Christian God. But isn’t it encouraging that the people of these nations, so secular and increasingly hostile to Christian values, are feeling led to call out to God as their lives are turned upside down? There can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is doing his work just now. We should pray that he answers the cries of men, women and children and reveals the Lord Jesus to them. How awesome it would be if our great God brought revival to these shores once again, after COVID-19.

Today, I received a circular via WhatsApp, inviting me to participate in an hour of prayer on Friday this week, 10 April. Would you take part in this? Please circulate this article and the call to prayer to Christian friends.

A Call to Prayer

During the Second World War, at times of extraordinary national difficulty, there were specific calls for the people of Britain to meet together and pray. These were encouraged by King George VI and the government of the day. Men, women and children flocked to churches to pray. Within days – and  some cases, hours – incredible, miraculous things happened, one of the most incredible being the evacuation of Dunkirk. 

As the Coronavirus begins to take hold, we today find ourselves in extraordinarily difficulty, circumstances. Circumstances which are not only affecting us but which are affecting the people of all nations. Circumstances which demand an extraordinary response. I firmly believe this the right time for us to do the same and to call on our nation to pray, just as we did in the past.

As we are unable to meet together as churches, how can we do this in 2020? In this time of isolation we cannot replicate those previous calls for prayer but – with the benefit of social media – there is no reason why this call to prayer can’t be circulated to at least a few thousand Christians by simply contacting our friends and asking them to call on their own churches to pray. They can also pass this message on to the rest of their Christian friends. My suggestion is that we set aside an hour during which Christians throughout our land – wherever they may be – offer prayers to our great and mighty God. 

When would this be? I doubt there could be a better day to do it than Good Friday, 10th April, 2020. What better time than between 12.00 noon and 1.00pm? Please try to find at least a few minutes during that hour when you, your family, your Church and your friends bring this whole crisis to the Lord in prayer.

If you could please pass this message on to everyone at your Church and to the rest of your family and friends – wherever they might be, home or abroad – that would be brilliant. If possible, let’s get people across the whole world praying during that hour!

Jeff Hewitt – Elder – Dunstable Baptist Church.