July 12, 2020
The tumultuous times we live in are leaving their mark. Some days I realize that I am missing the life we had, wanting to turn the clock back to January, 2020. The urge to look backward, even just to the beginning of this year, at old desires and behaviors is strong. But then I realize that the past is gone. I am changing, as are we all.
We will, with time and effort, regain stability, but itβs unlikely that we can return to a pre-COVID- 19 world. Nor, I think, would we want to. COVID-19 has revealed too many inadequacies β medical systems unprepared for pandemics, imbalance between care and outcomes for rich and poor, white and black β and more lessons are sure to come. And as comforting as copying past personal habits may seem, doing so may be self-destructive or, at least, unfair to us and to the future. Do we really want to return to largescale dependence on fossil fuel energy, along with the resulting smog-filled cities, health problems, and oil spills. Should that be our legacy?
COVID-19 has toppled institutions and habits that once seemed unchangeable. But by doing so, it has opened the door to opportunity. By creating a vacuum, COVID-19 has gifted us with the choice of working to forge a safer, healthier future rather than struggling to rebuild a problematic past.
Why not see todayβs disquiet as an invitation to enter a future without fear. I marvel at how a mere speck of life, an infinitesimal virus invisible to the naked eye, has been powerful enough to shut down global societies and economies overnight.
Then I raise my eyes and glance out at the wholeness and healing green of the Minnesota Valley. I can enjoy the birds and squirrels that visit our deck at home who trust that their needs will be met as they always have. These strengths of species and nature are, to me, much more powerful than the virus. God began life on this planet eons ago and continues to enable our world and its inhabitants to flourish day by day. May the Lord continue to bless us with courage and hope until God calls us to our eternal home.