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Good morning. Yesterday Dominic Cummings returned our minds to the early days of the pandemic and the introduction of lockdown. Whatever the fallout from that in the coming days we are now in a very different place. Government rules about containing the virus are becoming government advice. Minister Grant Shapps tells us it's time to use our common sense about travel and contact with others. But this isn't easy and it's brought pleas for more clarity and certainty.

The transition from lockdown is not only about rules but about us. We have been tiptoeing through our lives for over a year, cautious and distanced. We’ve found that lockdown is not only a law but a state of mind. Some of us have always opposed the restrictions of course, but most of us accept that, with vaccinations, they have helped to prevent infections and deaths. We recognise that desperate situations require desperate measures. And now we don’t quite know where we are.

The other day I came across an article in one of the colour supplements by Rick Stanton who helped rescue the boys trapped in a flooded labyrinth in Thailand nearly three years ago. Stanton recognised that he had to stop the boys from panicking, and the only way to do this was to sedate them. So, comatose and tied up like a parcel each was secured to a rescuer’s body as he dived underwater and swam his way slowly out of the cave. No one expected all twelve to survive but, unconscious and without agency as they were, they were slowly brought to safety.

Fighting the virus has meant that for many months we have had to lose some of our agency. Many of us have felt our vitality has been suppressed, our everyday pleasures diminished. We have grumbled about human rights and free choice and sometimes no doubt interpreted the rules somewhat loosely and in our own interests but in general our recognition of the danger has made us conform.

Now it’s like emerging from sedation. Freedoms are being restored. But the danger is not passed. What we need even more than common sense is what scripture calls discernment, a gift of the Holy Spirit whose coming was celebrated on Sunday. Discernment is a word sometimes used in advertising: ‘the discerning buyer…’ meaning ‘discriminating’. But originally it means the ability to cut through complexity and find the mind of God. We have reason to be hopeful, but not to throw over the traces, and charity towards others comes first. In the Book of Common Prayer we ask to receive the light of the Holy Spirit and by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things. We are not through yet, but we are slowly being restored to ourselves. And even the sun is beginning to shine.

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