IT was so good to see shops open on the High Street on Monday. People were patiently queuing outside clothes shops as many opened for the first time in three months.

Churches are now also allowed to open for private prayer and some sort of normality is beginning to return.

Coming out of lockdown will be a slow and difficult process: we shall have to wait for some time before we can watch live sports fixtures, enjoy eating and drinking in pubs and restaurants or worship together in church.

The future still remains very uncertain: even if we don’t have a second spike in coronavirus, there is a danger that many businesses and churches will be forced to close for financial reasons. We’ve already seen many companies going into administration during the lockdown and worse is very likely to come.

Some aspects of the lockdown have been refreshing and the environment has benefited greatly. Personally, I have appreciated not having to travel so much and have discovered that many of the meetings which, until recently have necessitated much travel time, can very satisfactorily be held by Zoom.

Zoom though, has its limitations: Zoom drinks parties are rather less fun than the real thing.

Clergy have done wonderfully creative and imaginative things in providing worship online, which has been accessed by many people who would not have come to church. That’s good news but it’s just not the same as meeting together.

One of the many things this lockdown has made clear is that, despite the wonders of the internet, we are physical beings and no virtual world can match the real one.

Things in the ‘new normal’ will be very different, which might be a very good thing in many ways. However, I hope that we shall value meeting together more, whether at restaurants, sports fixtures or churches ­– and that enough will remain to enable us to do so!