Confronting Evil: While scientists and public health officials scramble to defeat COVID19 – a “natural evil,” I have been thinking about how we confront the evil resident in our hearts. Clearly we need to avoid naïveté, self-righteousness and cynicism. But we also must embrace reflection, courage, sacrifice and vigilance. This feels like a moment to be especially reflective, courageous, sacrificial and vigilant.
An Easier Way: Much has been written about how to think and deal with human evil. It tends to be heavy and not much fun to read. There is a quicker and easier way. Step one: aspire to be like Sam and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. Step Two: assume that the person you need to fear most looks back at you every morning in the mirror.
A Crisis is a Horrible Thing to Waste: In the days ahead, much will be written about this moment. How did it happen? What did we do right? What did we do wrong? How do we stop something like this from happening again? It seems prudent for each of us to make some observations. Here are a few of mine.
- Modern society—including the U.S.—is more fragile than most of us realized. Like David’s small stones downing Goliath, COVID-19 has brought our complex systems and record-breaking economy to its knees.
- It’s time to plant a Victory garden.
- While some people will buy the last eleven packs of toilet paper (and then offer to sell you one for twenty dollars), at least for now most people are eager to help friends, neighbors, and even strangers.
- It’s easy to deliver sermon content online, but nearly impossible to deliver real community.
- It’s hard to go very long without touching your face.
- This would all be a lot easier to deal with if we had some idea of when things will be back to normal.
- The twenty-seconds you are supposed to use to wash your hands dozens of times each day is a great opportunity to say the Lord’s prayer or to pray for other things.
Advice from an Expert: You can click here to read Sister Mary Catharine Perry’s piece “I’m a Nun and I’ve been social distancing for 29 years. Here are Tips for Staying Home amid coronavirus fears.”
Insight into Grief: Five years ago my dear friend lost his granddaughter. I had met her a few times, and she was truly exceptional. His reflections about loss—both immediate and five years in—are worth reading. Start with Kleenex in your hand. The piece is called Another Grief Observed and is available here.
Without Comment:
- According to Wikipedia, most of the top 10 best-selling books of all time are from one genre… fantasy (e.g. Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia).
- An estimated sixty percent of Americans have at least one chronic health condition.
Videos: Given the lockdown that has rolled out across the globe, Christ Church is trying to provide daily video devotionals. If these are of interest to you, click here.
Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, we acknowledge our dependence upon you. This virus has reminded us of our frailty. We have subdued much of the earth with our innovation and creative acts, but we are reminded in this moment how frail and powerless we really are. So we repent of our self-sufficiency and hubris. Lord, we lament the fallen nature of our world that mars the beauty of your created order. COVID-19 comes to steal and destroy, to worm its way through human bodies and spread its vile sickness across communities and nations and the world. We, like your Son, weep and rage at sickness and death. And yet we know that it was Jesus whose death and resurrection defeated this final foe. We long for the day you resurrect our bodies and restore the world. As we endure this new normal in our lives, we pray earnestly for the heroic medical doctors, nurses, and health care professionals who are putting their lives on the line for their neighbors. May you give them strength and physical immunity during this time, so they can help push back against this ravaging virus. We pray for the scientists, disease experts, and epidemiologists who are working feverishly on vaccines and testing mechanisms. Lord, we thank you for gifting them with the knowledge and wisdom we don’t have. We pray for their endurance, for breakthroughs, and for resources. Lord, you are the Great Physician, so we pray for healing for the victims of COVID-19. Lord, you are the Creator, with power over the creation, so we pray for COVID-19 to be destroyed. Spirit of God, you are the Comforter; so please comfort our troubled souls. Dear God, move in the hearts of our public officials. As you have instructed us in your Word, we earnestly beseech you on behalf of our president, Congress, governors, mayors, and local officials. We pray you guide them with wisdom and strength and discernment. We also pray for the people in our nation and the nations of the world to be humbled and to turn to you in repentance and faith. We know you are the Prince of peace, Lord of lords, the King of kings. We praise you for your goodness and your mercy. And we ask this all in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.