Corona and the Fragility of Life

Corona and the Fragility of Life March 22, 2020

There are always harbingers, little warnings that life is fragile, that we are mortal. For Ann and myself, we’d seen little forewarnings along the way when we lost parents, but then eight years ago when we suddenly lost our beloved Christy to a pulmonary embolism at 32, and it was like being slapped in the face by the Grim Reaper himself. ‘Wake up’ he whispered in his hoarse voice, ‘the clock is ticking and the hour is later than you think!’ And of course, he was right. We try to shelter ourselves from the reality of mortality but alas, it will have its say, even for those who have the gift of everlasting life from the Lord, unless of course the End of the World as we know it happens first.

So what are the lessons we should learn from our fragility, and how should it change our worldview and behavior? I ask this as we practice ‘social distancing’ and in many cases even ‘sheltering in place’. The latter is our new vocabulary, and we all pray it doesn’t become our new normal. For if it did, it would be the death of much of what counts as tactile expressions of love. You cannot actually give a hug or a kiss from a distance. You just can’t. When there is a barrier, there is separation. So here are a few reflections about these times.

Firstly, our fragility should make us more honest people. Life is too short for dissembling, for charades, for posturing. And above all we must be honest with ourselves, with those we love, and above all with God. If you profess a believe in the TRUTH, you cannot for long live a lie without it causing you to be discovered as a charlatan.

Secondly, or fragility should drive home to us what is really important in this life— loving and serving God and our neighbor. Being a good Christian person to our fellow believers, to our families, to our friends, and frankly to everyone, including our enemies, which Jesus exhorted us to love. In these days when congregational worship is difficult if not impossible, we should above all remember that we were made for this very sort of thing, for this very sort of gathering together of the people of God, and we must get back to it as soon as is humanly possible.

Thirdly, while knowledge of our mortality and general fragility may make us cautious and careful in some appropriate respects, we should not give way to fear based thinking, that leads to things like hoarding, greed, or any sort of fear-based approach to life in general. Such an approach is the antithesis of faith and love and hope based thinking. If we stop believing in faith, hope, and love, we lose most of what God encoded into us when he made us in his image, for those are God’s own moral qualities.

Fourthly, we should see very very clearly what is essential in life, and what is merely enjoyable or fun or entertaining. Since we are creatures not just with minds but also with hearts, not just with physical but also spiritual needs, interestingly, we need not just physical but also soul food. And there are many sources of the latter— good worship, good music, good literature, good poetry, good experiences of the beautiful world around us— get out and take a walk, take some pictures of a beautiful sunset. Thank God for the creation of sun, moon, stars, and the good earth.

Fifthly, journal about these times, and your thoughts about them. Do not waste your days, do not fritter them away, do something beautiful for the glory of God and for the edification of your fellow humanity. And know this— nothing you do that way is ever lost, nothing is ever wasted, nothing like that is to no effect. It matters. And so do you.


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