How are you doing? I’m hearing that question a lot this week. I guess we’re all coping with social distancing as best we can. I hope we can stay connected during this time when we can’t gather in person as we normally do. Both at my job for NASA, and even more importantly, at my church, I see it happening. There's a learning curve to be sure, but for the most part, we seem willing to climb it.
New things tend come about when we think outside the box—and that's particularly true when our familiar box is suddenly gone, as it is right now. I suspect this will be one of those times in history where we look back and compare what life was like before "the COVID-19 pandemic" and after it. We will be different because of what we're now living through. The question is: Will we be changed for the better? Some of the changes we're forced to make now will likely be changes we choose to continue into the future. Choices we make about how we respond to this crisis now will shape our society for years to come... ... ...
So, did you see this whole thing coming? I didn’t—not at first. Or maybe I chose not to see? I'm something of a late adapter. I love my routine and I put off change as long as I can—which in this case was about a week.
Like everyone, I heard the ominous news reports the past couple months about this new virus spreading rapidly, first in China, then in Europe. But that was “not here,” so I went on living my life, somewhat naively thinking (??hoping??) that, in the end, despite the increasingly dire tone of the news reporting, this would in fact be “just another flu outbreak” in the U.S. I didn’t think it was a hoax, but I hoped we might in fact be overreacting.
I remember before the 9/11 attacks, I lived with a certain hubris regarding terrorist attacks. I assumed that such a major attack could never happen on American soil. You can’t really blame me. After all, nothing of that magnitude had been unleashed in America until that fateful day in history when the attacks happened—with devastating consequences for our nation. I remember writing in my journal that night that “the world had changed” that day. Since then, we’ve been acutely aware of an “unseen” enemy in the world that wants to do us harm and taken steps to try and prevent future attacks in this country.
I think I had similar feelings about a virus outbreak in the U.S. as I did about terrorist attacks before 9/11. To me, a rapidly spreading pandemic was the stuff of science fiction. Maybe it could happen in some “third world” country—but not here in the U.S. After all, we’ve got a good health system. We’d surely be able to mitigate any threat before it got out of hand… Wouldn’t we?... Apparently not.
As worrisome as the threat of terrorist attacks were and are, novel Coronavirus seems to be an even more insidious threat. This is a truly invisible enemy, operating at the level only a microscope can see. Yet, once again, the U.S. seemed to have a certain amount of hubris in its response. After seeing what happened in China and Italy, couldn’t we see all of this coming? Or was our government kind of like me? Did they choose not to see? Our President seemed confident the threat would magically disappear… until it became obvious it wouldn’t.
To be fair, there have been disease outbreaks before—Swine Flu (H1N1 and others), SARS, Ebola, and we (the U.S) responded to each one as they arose. While there were deaths in the U.S. (sometimes even including people we know personally), on the whole, America went on with business as usual in terms of societal interaction. I guess we assumed Coronavirus/COVID-19 would be no different.
But now we seem to be catching up to the fact that Coronavirus is a whole new ballgame. It’s not “just another flu”, nor is it a hoax dreamed up by your political opponents to cost your “guy” the next election. It’s a real threat and we best take it seriously or our healthcare system could face a crisis that it’s not prepared to handle. We’ve already wasted precious days with our lack of response—but we can’t go back and change that, we can only act decisively moving forward. The fact is, people we know could be impacted by this threat. And this says nothing of the economic impact it’s already having.
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| Flattening the curve is a proven practice to mitigate the impact of a pandemic—particularly when no vaccine exists . Source: CDC. |
States and municipalities across the country are one-by-one scrambling to implement extreme social distancing to try and “flatten the curve” and slow the spread of the virus. I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime. (Few remain alive who would remember the 1918 and 1920 Spanish Influenza outbreak; what I read about this epidemic that might be the only time in our history where such extreme measures were implemented to stop the spread of a disease—e.g., church gatherings were halted back then.)
And so, the Madness this March is not happening on a basketball court, it is being caused by COVID-19. All major sports have either delayed or cancelled their seasons. College basketball cancelled all of its post season tournaments—which normally draw tens of thousands to arenas all around the nation. The start of spring sports for college, high-school, and recreational sports are all cancelled or delayed. The Kentucky Derby and Masters golf tournament have been postponed.
Many school districts are closed for a minimum of two weeks—and will likely be closed for much longer. Teleworking, which was until now an option for some, has hastily become mandatory for many, testing the limits of our IT infrastructure. Restaurants and bars remain open, but only serve carry out; gyms are closed too. Places of worship are closed and leaders scramble to figure out what it looks like to maintain community exclusively online for the foreseeable future. Gas stations and grocery stores remain open—although store shelves are depleted of certain items (e.g., toilet paper!) at times. Overall, the Center for Disease Control has recommended restricting all non-essential travel and not gathering in groups of 10 or larger All of this to “flatten the curve,” and protect lives.
Many times, in recent days, I’ve read a correspondence or heard something said like: Bear with us. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation and figuring things out as we go. Yeah, I’d say so! I feel like we’re laboratory mice being subjected to a societal experiment the outcome of which will have existential consequences for some in our society.
We really have no choice at this point. The experts tell us that If we don’t practice extreme social distancing now, we risk a repeat of what is happening in Italy as I write this article in about 11 days. Hospitals in Italy are completely overwhelmed; some elderly patients are being turned away. Despite all that—because I selfishly don’t like changing my routine—I still find myself wondering if we are overreacting. The thing is, we’ll probably never know conclusively exactly how much social distancing was truly required. If the plan actually works to slow the spread of the virus—preventing more extensive loss of life in this country (and this world)—then some critics will inevitably say we overreacted—precisely because less people died than would have if we hadn’t enacted these seemingly draconian measures to prevent it.
When it comes to America’s response to this global pandemic, it seems we’re damned if we do too much and we’re damned if we don’t do enough. However, it seems clear at this point that if we had we continued with business as usual in our lives, we would have placed many more people’s lives in jeopardy—and history may well have judged us as damned fools.
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Three weeks ago was Ash Wednesday—when Christians around the world mark the start of Lent. What did you “give up” for Lent? Do you even remember? Personally, I think my attitude going into Lent was pretty lackadaisical: “Ho-hum, another Lent begins.” What a difference a few weeks can make!
Lent runs for 40 days—not including Sundays—between Ash Wednesday and Easter. The time period is modeled after the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness immediately following his baptism, being tempted by the Devil. This even is briefly mentioned in Mark, 1:12-13, and described in detail in both Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. I never thought about it, but I guess Jesus practice an extended period of social distancing. He followed the time-honored tradition of withdrawing to the desert.
Many Christ followers have followed in the footsteps of Jesus via an ancient well-worn path called the Threefold Way. It is a path commonly traversed during the season of Lent. In short, the way it works is the traveler identifies and removes whatever prevents a closer walk with God (purgation), so that he/she can see God more clearly (illumination) and draw closer to God (contemplation or union). Again, this can be thought of as following the footsteps of Jesus through the desert, where he resisted the Devil's three temptations, came to see more clearly who he was (the Son of God), and drew closer to God "the Father".
I find it interesting (coincidental?) that, this year, the Season of Lent coincides with a time of involuntary social distancing for most of the world. It’s as if nature itself—and the God who controls it—has imposed Lenten self-denial upon the human race. So much that we take for granted in our daily routines is now stripped away. Maybe, there was some ugliness hiding beneath those routines? It’s painful to have that mess suddenly exposed.
But this interruption is also an opportunity for God to work in us. We all get a chance to recalibrate and rediscover ourselves in the midst of this global pandemic. We can use this time of involuntary social distancing to draw closer to those closest to us—and closer to God.
I am a Meyers–Brigg “J”; I thrive on routine, and right now it’s gone! I feel like a ship without a rudder. The familiar is stripped away and I have to rebuild a new normal for these unprecedented times. But maybe there’s something good about this? Maybe there are habits I’ve fallen into—things that have become too “routine” for me—that only times like this can change. I don’t mean to suggest that God causes a global pandemic, or any other tragedy or suffering. But I do believe that God uses all things—even the bad things—to shape us into the people God needs us to be. Let’s pray that God will do that with all of us in this time of social distancing.
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:
· What are you learning about yourself during this time of involuntary social distancing?
· What do you think is being revealed about our society right now?
· Do you think it’s a coincidence all this occurs during Lent?
· The article discusses the Threefold Way. What might God be trying to strip from you during this time of social distancing, so that God’s light can shine more clearly through you, and lead you and others to a deeper experience of God this Lent?
· Do you think some of the changes we are forced to make now individually and as a society could become things we choose to continue when this crisis is over?
