What COVID is Teaching Me
I recently read a story about Corrie ten Boom documenting her time in a concentration camp with her sister, Betsie, who would tell her that even in the concentration camps, it was important to praise and give thanks go God always.
Their barrack was infested with fleas, and Betsie said, "We even need to be thankful for the fleas." One evening when Corrie arrived back at the barracks Betsie’s eyes were twinkling. Betsie had asked one of the supervisors to settle a question that the women had in the barrack. But she wouldn’t step through the door and neither would the guards. It turned out that the guards and supervisors refused to enter the room because the place was crawling with fleas! The flea infestation, indeed, became something to be thankful for as it allowed the women to pray and communicate without the guards' scrutiny.
As I read this story, I considered being thankful for COVID. Contrary to Corrie, I feel like I am under more scrutiny than she and the women in her barrack, but there are some other things that I'm not sure would have been so clear for me if it had not been for COVID.
Learning New Skills - Who else is coming out of this with a new skill? I remember people taking up new hobbies...home improvement projects, knitting, painting, making sour dough bread (I never knew you got to name and feed your starter!) I don't think I've ever been more motivated to try new things...even if Dalgona coffee was a disaster for me, I had a lot of fun trying. (Moving across the country to discern a vocation, however, is going splendidly!)
It isn't necessary to be afraid. - The first thing that I remember myself repeating about COVID was that I didn't want to be stupid, but I also didn't want to be afraid. This still rings true today. Now, I'm definitely not a member of the camp who says COVID isn't real, that masks don't work, and everyone should just get it so we can be immune. On the contrary, I wash my hands, refrain from attending unnecessary crowded areas, wear my mask, and social distance. But I also don't lock myself in my room, stockpile toilet paper, and wait for the world to end. That's no way to live. I want to see and care for my loved ones. So I go see them...safely, of course. And sometimes I just want waffle fries. I put on my mask and hit the drive through. I don't believe in being careless, but I also don't believe in letting a virus rule my day to day decisions. Don't be afraid!
Learning to Lament - I heard this phrase in an episode of the Abiding Together podcast. I think we've been taught to not have bad days, to not be sad, and to not be emotional. The last eight months have taught me the exact opposite of that. It's important to process our bad days, to admit that we're sad, and to be honest about our emotions without allowing them to take over our lives. There have been some instances where I've put on a happy face or said I was fine when all I really wanted was to scream at the top of my lungs about how much I hated COVID and the situation we were in and not being able to see my loved ones. I thought that I was being charitable by not "burdening" people with my struggles, but there's nothing humble about being dishonest about your feelings. We're not meant to do this alone. We're meant to carry each other and support one another. And in all times, we are also asked to rely on our God who is all powerful and all loving.
There are a lot of people whose needs are more important than mine right now. - I've learned that I have a lot to be grateful for. And that sense of gratitude has left me realizing how much I have to be grateful for. Even though I don't get to do everything that I want, there are so many out there who have even fewer liberties. Of course, there are so many still suffering from COVID. Say what you want, but it's never any fun to be sick. I've been lucky enough to have my health. I don't have to be hospitalized or intubated, and I also haven't worried about being in the hospital and dying alone or not seeing my loved ones because of concerns about the virus spreading. I especially think about the health care professionals and caregivers who have been nonstop since this began. I think of my sisters and people who are caring for sick loved ones. I think about how tired they are when they come home, having poured themselves out for their patients only to come home to messy homes and meals that still need to be prepared. I think about the ridicule they get from COVID deniers. I think about the parents and teachers who are facing screen fatigue and I think of the students who I'm sure are missing the simple pleasures of just being with friends and eating hot lunch in the school cafeteria. I think of people who are struggling with mental illness and loneliness, people who I'm sure just want to hug their loved ones but are told, "If you really love them, you'll stay away." I think of the poor and the homeless who have it harder than the rest of us. People are carrying crosses they shouldn't have to bear, and although I've had my share of bad days, the good ones far outweigh them. In the grand scheme of things, I really am doing okay.
People still need to be cared for - This leads me to a similar point. A pandemic isn't an excuse to grow cold hearted or selfish. If you see a need you can meet, do it. The pandemic didn't tell hunger that it was coming. It didn't give the people who live paycheck to paycheck a heads up before it shut down places of employment. The virus is testing humanity, so we don't need to add to the weight by testing each other. This isn't a time to claim it's "the survival of the fittest" and knock down the people around us who are in our way or inconvenient. It's time to care even when it seems impossible to do so.
And lastly, endure. We'll get through this. - One of my favorite quotes reads, "They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds." We'll go through our time in the darkness, no doubt. But the time will come when from death life will bloom. (Our God does such things.)