Wednesday 27 May

Today I found myself thinking about locks. Not the key-in-a-lock variety, but canal locks that enable boats to navigate a waterway crossing unlevel ground.

Are you familiar with these? Essentially, the boat moves from the main canal and enters a narrow channel, or chamber. The lock gates are closed, shutting the boat into its confined space. Underwater sluice gates are opened so that the water in the chamber is emptied out, and naturally as the water level goes down so does the boat (it can of course happen in reverse, filling the chamber and lifting the boat). 

Now anyone on the boat would become even more aware of their confinement within the high, dark walls above them. Once the water in the chamber has reached the same level as the water in the part of the canal into which the boat is moving, then the lock gates ahead can be opened and the boat and her passengers can continue on their way. (You can watch a 2 minute timelapse video here.)

I wonder the extent to which you have experienced this unusual time of lockdown as a canal lock? I can identify with the feeling of moving from the main flow of the waterway into this strange sort of concrete box. There's been the same sense of confinement, of restricted movement; the same sense of normal life being emptied out. In my imagination, I can see that the rising dark walls that create the hidden place for the boat; lockdown has some distinct similarities.

I wonder how the purpose of the lock might help us to reframe this unusual season? Without its time in lockdown, the boat cannot continue to navigate the waterway. It would be completely stuck because the level at which it needs to be for its future journey is deeper than the level at which it began. What if we need to reach new depths in our inner lives if we are to be rightly positioned for that towards which we are moving, as individuals, as families and even as nations?

If the gate of the lock were to open prematurely, it would be disastrous. Most likely the boat would get battered beyond repair. The change in the level of the water would be so sudden as to be destructive. The place of confinement allows a regulated shift in the flow of the water, so that the boat is safe. I don't know about you, but I often find the place of waiting goes on much longer than I would choose! I wonder how much damage I would incur if things moved according to my speedy timeframe, rather than to God's?

In what ways has your experience of lockdown been reminiscent of a canal lock? How do you feel about this time of darkness and deepening, of restricted movement and reduced vision? In what ways might the idea of being prepared for 'life on a new level' help you to perceive this season in a new light?