The COVID 19 Pandemic has changed our routines, but for all of us, everyday life is forever changed. Some of our sisters and brothers are struggling to make ends meet. People have lost their jobs, and an alarming number of our citizens have lost their lives. 770,000+ Americans have contracted the disease, and over 41,000 Americans have died.
Our struggle is not yet over and we may have a mountain to climb, in order to see hope emerge in this fight. We are making progress, despite the fact that the number of cases from 4/11/20 to 4/18/20 have increased from 525,000 to 770,000. Lord, we all need patience. We all need compassion. We all need to innovate, adapt, and ask for help. We all need to come together as one country and one world, and put aside our petty differences in order to overcome this pandemic.
I know we all want to go back to work, back to church services, dinners out, movie nights, beach days, and life as we once knew it. People are ready to instantly return to normal, but it has only been a few weeks so far. We are not in a sprint here, but a marathon of struggle. The American people during WWII endured years of hardship, years of rationing, years of telegrams announcing the loss of a loved one, but we did not rush to a call to the authorities, “end the war now, it is too hard.” No, we fought bravely, we faced hardships courageously, and we did not allow our own desire for comfort deter us from the fight in which, we needed to engage. On the other side of that great conflict, we defeated the Axis Powers and for many years, we created a new era in life “as we know it.”
Like the months after Pearl Harbor was attacked, our fight has just begun and honestly, it is going to take more time to win than any of us want. It does no good for a small group to go out in public and demand a return to “life as normal,” as if by our own will we can make this all go away. It is as if we are saying, “it is my right to be out in public, and I want it now!” We all need patient endurance. We all need to trust God in this crisis. We all need to think of the health and well-being of others.
So, if you feel hopeless, today, I encourage you to take a moment and reflect on this scripture from James 1:2-4: “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Take a moment and pray today asking God for patient endurance, for compassion for others, for the strength to take each day, “one day at a time”. I encourage you to not suffer alone and if you are in need, reach out to me and let’s talk. If you are struggling, reach out to a sister or brother-in-Christ for support. Remember, this fight is not about us as individuals, because we are in this together and none of us have to walk it alone. Christ is with us as we suffer, for Christ suffered with us and yet, Christ still reminds us that we have hope of a new day. Live in that hope today. Strive for hopeful, prayerful, faithful patient endurance.
Fr. Eric+