Grace and peace to you.
You may have noticed that none of us leading worship, these past few Sundays, has done more than offer caution and a few prayers about how to face these anxious times. And I have to tell you, you’re right.
My own practice for these past few weeks has been to observe an abundance of caution and to help our lay leadership to make decisions in our congregation’s and wider community’s best interest. I have sat down with other religious leaders (through a variety of live and live-stream media platforms), to discuss ways to make sure that the life of our faith communities continues unabated and undaunted. I have been learning through trial-and-error the ins and outs of video and audio production, so that all of us might still feel connected with God and one another. It has been my central purpose to assure that we are not prevented from maintaining our organizational integrity and, even, outreach.
I am a pragmatist at heart, and pragmatism has been my primary mode of operation: to keep on keeping on and to assure you by this, that our institution is going to be OK, that we will get through this moment, and that we may even be stronger for having endured it.
Still, there’s something of a proverbial elephant in our virtual room which we’ve been shifting ourselves around but never really acknowledging.
You see, there was this conversation among staff members, yesterday, about how we are all experiencing a lack of sleep, dreams that indicate new levels of stress in us, and something like that twitchiness that comes with spring fever (though we are well past the equinox) as we ride out this time in isolation and quarantine. Our anxieties are high, our families’ anxieties are high, our friends’ anxieties are high.
We have been told that the next couple of weeks will include a spike in the rates of infection and death that baffle the imagination. And though it may not be as severe as past epidemics, like the flu that struck the world in 1918 and 1919 or the smallpox that obliterated entire Native American communities during the time of colonization, not one of us will be unaffected by the loss of life. It is not out of the question that we will have loved ones or others in our spheres of acquaintance who will have died with COVID-19.
How do we remain dauntless in the face of such a threat?
I’ll be honest: I’m not sure we do.
My faith tells me, however, that answering anxiety with fear and hiding, responding to intimidation with paralysis, will not accomplish the high goal of love to which we are bound by the grace of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. That said, following medical and scientific advice by remaining sheltered in place is not the same as fear and hiding. Isolation and quarantine are not paralysis. Exercising caution and following protocols we’ve been given are reasonable and proper measures for us.
But we really must not give in to fear.
A while back in one worship setting, I mentioned the popular understanding that there are 365 occasions in the Bible in which something like the words, “Be not afraid,” are spoken. The sentiment is that there is one such saying for every day of the year.
The command is not repeated that often, I observed, but “Be not afraid” or something like it is repeated around half that many times and it’s a simple project just to repeat the reminder every six months. It becomes a year, and doing so we will have more than accommodated any perceived lack on the part of the Bible.
We can use that kind of encouragement, can’t we.
Why is that admonition, “Fear not,” repeated so often in our holy scriptures?
The only conclusion I can draw is that the anxiety making us so restless now was even more common in the days when the Bible’s books were written – from 4000 to 2000 years ago. You know that we have enjoyed ourselves a privilege of ease and contentment that our spiritual ancestors did not, thanks to so many innovations of medicine and hygiene and expectations of civility and loving kindness.
I would go further. You know as well as I that there are entire communities, entire strata of human society in fact, who have before this time experienced anxious pains like those that beset us and trouble our sleep and interrupt our daily routines. People living in poverty, people living as refugees, people whose physical existence is threatened or curtailed by persistent perils everyday, and people enduring mental illness or addiction, know exactly this sort of dread. How might my next interpersonal encounter harm me? we wonder now... with them!
I also consider that the threats we have named, the ways in which people do harm to one another, deserve to be taken seriously and treated seriously... including exposing each other unnecessarily or unintentionally to infection with COVID-19. To take these anxieties seriously will be to acknowledge our own unsuspected privilege.
We must be courageous. Our God insists on it.
For those who are experiencing fear and anxiety, that courage will most likely come by facing our certain vulnerabilities but not surrendering to them. We are being told over and over again how to limit the spread of this virus – stay home, wash your hands for 20 seconds or more at a time, if you must go out then maintain a distance of six feet between yourself and others and disinfect when you return.
For those who are resentful of the abundance of caution being required of us, who don’t see what all the fuss is about, or who are frustrated by the curtailing of our accustomed freedoms, to you I say, practice the courage of wisdom and humility. Acknowledge that there are at least a few people out there who know more than you do about what’s best for you and your neighbor in this moment. And learn how a new commandment is repeated so often by Jesus of Nazareth that it easily equals the command to be fearless. His command, “Love one another,” is only best accomplished when we put aside our own desires or attitudes, and consider the care of others foremost.
We are living in a challenging time. We will endure this fearsome time. As the apostle has said, “God’s grace is sufficient for us.” Love for God and for one another has been the bedrock of faith for so many before us and around us, and it will be our firm foundation as well.
It will.
So, be safe. Be well. Be of good courage.
May blessings abound for you.
And peace be upon you.
