When Is "Getting Back To Normal" A Bad Thing?

Jesus and the prophets repeatedly urge us to repent of our 
self-centered ways and to "do justice, love mercy, and walk
humbly with God," which means submitting our will to God's.

If our experience of going through the worst pandemic ever is teaching us anything, it may be that it is teaching us very little. 

To the extent that is the case, "getting back to normal" is anything but a good thing...

...At least not if normal means our lifestyle and eating habits as Americans revert to pre-pandemic levels. It remains wrong, and unsustainable, to continue to buy exotic foods from all over the planet that are harvested, processed and transported by underpaid workers. We need to overcome our addiction to recreational food-binging, radically reduce the waste of 30-40% of our food, and refocus our efforts at alleviating world hunger.

...Not if normal means failing to change life habits that contribute to an acceleration of global warming. Unless we radically curb our pursuit of the comfort and convenience associated with our vehicle and upscale-housing addictions, and become less dependent on an economy reliant on an excessive use of fossil fuels, we will fail to preserve the planet as a livable home for future generations.

...Not if normal means our hearts remaining as hardened as ever to the plight of the world's desperately needy. Unless our generosity toward victims of food, shelter and healthcare shortages grows from offering charity to actually creating equity and justice, the lessons of the pandemic will have been lost. We need to gain a sense of all being fellow passengers on one fragile and increasingly crowded lifeboat filled with refugees, the homeless, the sick, the incarcerated, and those suffering from the effects of racism and other kinds of injustices.

...Not if normal means our minds becoming even more contaminated with partisan propaganda and social-media-fed falsehoods. There are signs of masses becoming ever more susceptible to deception, of their trusting in wild conspiracy theories over news from professional journalists, of their having more faith in unfounded rumors than in medical science, and of their trusting the propaganda of extremist groups over once trusted faith leaders and public officials.

...Not if normal means the madness of outrageous military spending remaining unchecked. We appear to be as addicted to Pentagon spending as ever. We still maintain a trigger-ready nuclear force capable of destroying everything on the planet multiple times over, and keep adding to an already bloated military budget year after year, to the tune of wasting more on means of destruction than the next nine largest spending nations in the world. While billions of people live on the edge of starvation, the US spends far more every single hour than the entire budget of a world relief agency like Mennonite Central Committee does in an entire year. Even people of my peace-loving denomination will continue invest more in taxes for military purposes than in tithes and offerings for missionary purposes.

Were we to heed the kind of warning given by the prophet Jonah to the people Nineveh, we could still be spared further judgment. But if a COVID-19 pandemic and a half million deaths doesn't serve as a wake-up call, what will?