April 22, 2020
COVID-19: Humanity's Last Chance?

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading its ugly arms of pain, suffering and death like a silent, creeping unseen army across the world: village by village, country by country, continent by continent! Minute by minute, it consumes us. We run but we cannot hide. It lurks under our skin, under our breath. It snakes along unseen spreading its venom.

We need to distance ourselves. Do not touch! Do not hug! Wash your hands…..wash them for 20 seconds…..do it again! Don’t touch your face! Wear a mask! Keep your distance! Somebody may breathe on you with the virus of death. They call it “social distancing” but there is nothing “social” about it! We are afraid! Am I a carrier? Does the person in line at the store have it? Is it lurking on our money, on our mail, on the counter? We try to be brave, we exchange jokes….we call them “funnies” but some are not so funny because they echo our pain, our frustration and our fear.

The daily briefings in the media provide the grim statistics and latest warnings. We cannot escape; it permeates our lives. Some of our leaders speak eloquently about the caregivers, the volunteers, the suffering and the loss. Others seem not to care about the loss of life as they counter with rants about the economy and the need to open up even if it will cost more lives.

We live in isolation. We exchange electronic hugs! Oh how we long for the touch of a human hand in ours, the warming caress of real hugs! How will it end? In our solitary life we are left to contemplate what we may have done or left undone. If we survive, how will we change? How will we make a difference? Will the world be a gentler place after the enemy is gone? Will we be slower to condemn, more tolerant of those who are different from us, more giving, less self serving, more willing to work for peace?

PEACE! Ever so elusive. We greet each other: “Peace be with you!” and then we go about life with all too little peace in our hearts or in our actions. And yet it is up to each one of us!  “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me….” a verse from the hymn hangs on my lips.

We believe God is a forgiving God but have we gone too far? Is COVID-19 a last chance for those who survive to get it right? In our isolation, shall we pray that it may be so? Shall we dedicate ourselves to compassion, understanding, respect for one another and the earth? We must not forget the warnings, the pain, the suffering, the frustration and the loss to which we have been condemned by COVID-19.

Yes, “let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me……” right now and for evermore! Amen.

Joan Johnson