So here we are at the one week mark of life in the time of Coronavirus… or at least one week for our household. Because the reality, this virus has been circulating in the world for 3 months now — but I suspect that most will mark the start of it as the time it reached there home…
So week one…
My emotions have ranged all over the map this week but I think overall my thoughts keep coming back to how surreal this whole thing is. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine a time when friends within the US were ordered by their government to stay home. Never did I fathom a time when we’d be forced to rethink gathering as a family or faith-community. Never did I dream that we would come together by staying apart…
Surreal. Like something out of a Dalí painting – the melting of clocks seems fitting…
And yet, never has what is important been more clear. Laughing with your children. Holding tight to your loved ones. Getting fresh air. Enjoying a shared meal. Calling your parents. Writing letters to your grandmother. Seeing the beauty in what God has placed in your life…
But even with these blessings, the world is aching… hearts are breaking for loved ones suffering who cannot be comforted by their family members… parents are whispering concerns as their businesses sharply take turns for the worst… fear of the unknown is spreading as we realize we do not know what will happen next…
And I am struck by the contrasts we see in reactions. Despite the urging of those who know far more than I do, I see people hosting birthday parties… I see people sitting in nail salons for their weekly manicure… I see sleepovers and playdates…
I mostly see these things happening from a place of love – people wanting to be there for one another. Keep a business they hold dear moving how they can. Provide some normalcy for their children.
But I also see those who callously say “I won’t die so I’m okay” or “It’s the US, we will be fine” or “well, I don’t really care if I spread it because my family won’t get that sick”…
And I am saddened. It’s those reactions, those thoughts, those feelings that I hope this virus kills. I pray that the good that comes of this pandemic is an outpouring of love that drowns the hate, the apathy, the narcissism in the world…
I am brought back to a scripture that is usually reserved for weddings, but the words feel like the reminder that the world needs right now:
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
– 1 Corinthians 13: 6-7
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13: 13
Love… I see it all around… I feel it with every post I see of people finding ways to make life at home work. We stay home out of love. We protect our communities out of love. We make life look different for now out of love…
So in the early sarges of all this chaos and unknown, I consider how I want to look back on this time in years to come…
I want to be one who found ways to protect… ways to support… ways to uplift…
I want to spend these hours providing my family with comfort… sharing laughter with loved ones however we can… soaking in memories created during time found…
And I want to focus on love…
Week One…
XOXO
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