In Jean-Paul Sartre’s famous play No Exit, three people gradually realize they are stuck in a room with each other for eternity. No communication with other people; not even a mirror in which to see themselves. It doesn’t take long for them to say terrible things to each other, and throughout the play the room is full of tension. At the play’s climax, one of the characters boldly concludes, “Hell is other people!”

Reading this play as an English major at Geneva College helped me see the world through other lenses—in this case, French existentialism. But during the recent quarantines of the global pandemic, similar ideas were expressed by people as they were forced into small spaces with relatives, friends, or strangers they otherwise would strongly avoid. In some places tension begat violence. In many others it was a silent war, often expressed on social media, talk shows, and news stories.

But the opposite also happened. Many people who were thrown together by the pandemic showed tremendous kindness and sacrificial care for those they were stuck with. They put other people first, even as they experienced fear and uncertainty about their own welfare. They used the creativity God had given them to find completely new ways of connecting with people and showing love even to strangers.

Clearly, hell is not other people, and hell is not here—not in this world that God made where His Holy Spirit is still at work, particularly in His people. People are far from as bad as they could be; and, with the Holy Spirit, they are far more loving and sacrificial than they otherwise would be. In fact, a world without other people is far worse than a world with them, as we have painfully learned in the case of some who have suffered alone, or nearly all alone. Many have felt the tremendous weight of isolation and despair and longed for vibrant connections with people.

Daily joy has come to me from seeing how creative are the human beings that God wrought, how great duress doesn’t diminish but rather enhances our ability to invent new ways to help one another and create a new and healthy normal. I’ve loved seeing this in Reformed Presbyterians especially, as they have not given up a single priority (worship, fellowship, witness, discipleship, mercy) during this time and have, in a number of cases, created new means of carrying out our age-old priorities. Some of them are chronicled here.

For many of us, we can scarcely think of a time of more worldwide uncertainty than we’ve experienced in the past few months, and that global uncertainty can become a deeply felt personal uncertainty. Many of us have been through trauma, and we shouldn’t downplay it. But at the same time we have seen a faithful God helping His people through a harrowing time, and we have seen kingdom advance against all odds and pestilence. The simple sight of the “gathering” of RPs with other RPs around the world for prayer and worship, along with news of visitors joining with our churches in these times to hear the Word, makes me marvel at what God is doing and expectant of what He will yet do.