What a crazy time!  Who would have thought?  This is a wakeup call.  We were unprepared for this and so blindsided by it that many of us didn’t take it seriously.  Now we are paying for that lack of respect for a highly contagious, new, unknown virus that has spread throughout the world in less that 3 months time.  This is shocking and we in the United States are trying to wrap our heads around how something like this could happen.  It spread across all of the United States, 49 states in just a few weeks.

I think the fact that things happened so fast is the most dizzying.  We were going along in our usual way, complaining about the government, going out, spending money, watching a healthy economy weather some challenges, just living our daily lives.  Then coronavirus.  The world as we know it has come grinding to a halt.  The market crashed, gatherings were banned, events canceled. We are being confined in the hopes of lessening the burden on those who will offer healing.  As we watch the scenario unfold in other places we know it is just a matter of time for us.  But we are fighting.  We are making it harder for the virus to mass infect.  And we have some tools to do that.  How many times have we heard “wash your hands”, “don’t touch your face with unwashed hands”, stay away from crowds, don’t form crowds, stay home unless you have to go out, work from home?   It is coming.  It is serious.  It is real. But we can slow it down so it can be manageable.

I am happy that I don’t have to go out.  I feel for those who have to work outside their safe haven.  But I am grateful to them for doing their jobs.  The least I can do is listen and take precautions so that they are not unnecessarily overwhelmed.  Each of us can make a difference by taking this seriously and trying to be part of the solution and not the problem.  I am staying home until I have to be out for something vital – like an important doctors appointment or to get groceries. But I will try to go out at a time when others won’t be out. Keeping the suggested distance from people, yes, washing my hands.

I find myself checking the map of the virus a couple of times a day.  It is surreal watching the numbers climb.  It now seems incredulous that anyone thought it could be contained.  But they tried.  Kudos to them.  And now we must do our part.

I am a religious person.  I find great comfort in knowing that I have a God who cares.  When I start to panic, I go there.  I seek the steadfast love of my God who helps me through tough times.  I am grateful for my faith.  I know this virus is like countless others, part of our world.  Most are relatively harmless, some like this are more virulent, and deadly.  So this, too, is a part of the human condition.  We have been blessed with minds and a creativity that allows us to deal with the situation.  We search for and find ways to combat these illnesses.  We are also blessed with a sense of community that says we must care for one another and that means doing what is right not just for ourselves but recognizing the repercussions of our actions.

Even with the divisions that have grown in our country.  We are coming together as one nation to confront and deal with this threat.  We need to learn from this trial and grow a sense of family. Maybe this will remind us that we are a nation of people who have come from all over the world but are Americans.  I am thinking that other countries are thinking the same thing.  That is when national pride is helpful.  We also realize that this is a global problem and that it is bringing us together as humankind.  If even for a short time we think about that we might find that we can coexist and be kind to one another. We can see the humanity in each of us all over the world.  Perhaps this will change the way we think about our fellow humans.   I HOPE.