As much as I am in a state of peace right now, I know many are not. I would never want to be one of those who glibly glosses over the suffering of others while singing Kum by Yah and planting flowers in my yard. I know there are people who are living in a state of fear, panic, and unrest right now, and I am struck by the loss others are suffering every time I go to work. The first time I felt a pang of anything besides annoyance at the larger than usual orders we were shipping out was when I walked by the baker's rack marked “undeliverables”. Usually, that rack and the one next to it marked “business closed” would have very few packages stacked on their shelves, that is no longer the case. It was hard to see an entire rack stacked with boxes and a sign that read “School Libraries- Closed”. My mom taught elementary school for over 45 years. One of the things she loved getting were books. She relished the chance to give the gift of reading to the next generation. I realized that teachers, media center specialists, support staff, and students were missing their normal right now. How much planning, preparing, and budgeting had gone into the growing stack of supplies and books we were accumulating in our warehouse. I believe most teachers enjoy what they do, they have a certain excitement and expectation when they order in new books and activities. Lots of well made lesson plans were being shelved as well as these undeliverable shipments. I bet when it was first announced that spring break was going to be an extra week, the kids went crazy. Now that the entirety of the school year is shut down, tension is probably mounting a bit. Kids miss their friends and don’t understand why they can’t see them. Parents are probably a little frazzled by now as well. I know that social media loves to show us the good stories of teachers driving through neighborhoods and honking at their kiddos and parents laughingly teaching their children the proper way to do math, but there is another side that isn’t Instagram worthy. Some children who relied on school for stability and food aren’t able to access either of those items any longer. Some parents who were barely making it before have lost jobs and understand that as soon as the government mandates requiring utilities to give people time to pay their bills are lifted, they will be living in darkness. Some families are relishing this time together, some are not. Once the stacks of boxes for the schools were shipped back to the original ordering company, the racks started to fill with boxes for other businesses around the area. Barber shops, bakeries, and other places were closed and the essential supplies they had ordered a few weeks earlier weren’t necessary any longer. Businesses where the profit margin was already thin were shut down indefinitely. Bouncing back after this is going to be impossible for some. My son had recently taken a job as a security guard at a new art museum in the metro area. Their grand opening gala was planned for the first weekend the city was shut down. He brought me beautiful floral arrangements for my tables that had been ordered for the event that wasn’t going to happen now. His job is still secure. He gets to walk the empty floors of a million dollar building that the general public has never gotten to see protecting paintings and murals that a hopeful artist created. How many grand openings, weddings, birthdays, graduations, and other big events are being canceled, postponed, or pushed permanently aside for this virus? And what about the disappointment that the people affected feel? Then there is the fear that is invading society as a whole. It might just be part of the media induced frenzy that caused all the toilet paper to fly off the shelves three weeks ago, but for some it is deeper. And it is that deeper fear that troubles me. Not because I feel the fear of instability myself, I have lived with food insecurity and shoestring budgets before, I understand what may be coming. There is another fear that this chaos has brought, the fear of the other. When the clerk at Wal-mart, your next door neighbor, or even our family could be harboring the virus; we get suspicious. We want to hug and hold people we haven’t seen in days, but draw back with apprehension wary of the unseen. I have had Philippians 4:6-7 running through my head since this thing started. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I really like the classic NIV for this verse, it just states it so nicely. Verse eight then reads, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” I feel a bit more peaceful after typing those words! I do feel a peace about all of this, but I temper my peace with knowledge and wisdom that things have changed and may never be what they once were, and that’s okay. The world has been off-kilter for a while, this could be the dawn of a second great awakening that will get our focus back on God instead of ourselves. That self focus is what motivated me to write this blog post. I see the fear in my friends’ eyes and hear the tremble in their voices, and I want to offer comfort, but that is hard to do when we are separated. I understand how they feel and I choose to empathize, not criticize them while they fear. I wish more caring Christians did the same. It is so easy to tell someone to “Fear Not”! It’s easy to quote scripture. It's easy to sit snugly and smugly in a comfortable home and claim an abundance of faith when your cupboard is full, it’s far more difficult when those things are stripped away. Now is the time for the church to show who we are to the world. We can’t gather, but we can still reach out. We can offer support and listen to our friends that aren’t faring as well. And we can do so without pious judgement of our friends in the faith who have fear. Every person is going through something right now. I pray constantly for those who don’t know Christ to heed this wake up call of revival. I also pray for my friends and family in the faith who are struggling. It is a weak form of faith to claim that no one should have qualms or fears during this time. That kind of self-focused, I-am-fine-so-you-should-be too faith can and does hurt those who need encouragement and not condemnation. I had a vision of a tsunami of faith rolling across this great nation over a year ago. Right now, it looks like the water is receding before the great wave crashes upon us, but the wave is coming. As exciting it will be riding that wave of faith, it will be really hard for those who get sucked into the undertow in its wake. How about reaching into the water and lifting those who are drowning in doubt and uncertainty up onto the surfboard with us? Romans 14:1 says that we should “accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters”. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” If those of us who have peace aren’t sharing that peace with compassion, what are we doing? Schools, businesses, and even churches are all shut down right now. People are scared, hungry, and hurting. But the Church, the real Church, those of us who believe are still called to be a light to the world. We can’t do that hiding in our homes and focusing on ourselves and how blessed we are. We must reach out with more than just platitudes and condescending quotes about having no fear. Now is the time to call or text that friend who might be struggling or to reach out if you are the one with doubts. There isn’t anything to watch on TV, there’s nowhere to go, and there’s no time to waste; be present for your friends and help them to find the comfort that God provides.
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AuthorI am a Christian, a wife, a mom, and a part-time basket case who wants to be a full time writer.
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