The More Troublesome Pandemic

We are living in what is for most of us very unusual times. While past generations have gone through plagues, pandemics, and poverty, most Americans started 2020 with some semblance of wealth and well being. That all quickly changed with the arrival of the new coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of a good portion of the world.

At first, the majority were in favor of a temporary lockdown to slow the spread of this emerging and mutating disease until we could prepare our healthcare system for the inevitable onslaught of sick patients. As time wore on and the restrictions were not lifted (here in California, most restrictions are still in place) many have lost their jobs and wonder if there will be jobs to return to, with some businesses already announcing that they will be permanently shuttered.

This has led to great fear, and in turn, great anger and frustration from all sides.  We have the fear of the disease, which for some almost certainly will lead to death, and fear of unemployment and possibly a lack of the basic necessities of life: shelter, food, etc. These emotional responses are natural and understandable, but the resultant anger has seemingly spilled over into our relationships with co-workers, friends, family, and people we meet in public. Because our future seems uncertain in regards to our health and physical needs, paired with the uncertainty of this changing any time soon, this chain of events and our reaction of fear has led us to put up our emotional defenses everywhere. Add in to the mix of all this the extreme social isolation and cutting off of our emotional and spiritual support groups, and the resultant emotional soup has many boiling over with no one seemingly being left to put out the stove fires.

While we as individuals can do little to nothing when it comes to finding a cure for this new disease or to sway the opinions of our governors on what is an appropriate restriction level for citizens, we can do some things turn down our emotional flames that have our fears boiling over into outward directed anger. The following are things I have had to remind myself of more than once through this soupy mess:

• Limit our intake of social media and news. For me, that meant deleting my Facebook and Twitter accounts and not watching the news. I added local and national news apps on my phone (with notifications turned off) and I look at the headlines when I choose rather than have it constantly in my face all day. Since news now frequently interrupts local TV programming, it means the TV is turned off here most of the day unless we are streaming a program through the internet.

• Pick up the phone and call a real person while trying not to talk solely about the pickle we're all in. Since we hopefully are watching less TV and are instead reading a book discuss ideas, concepts, and plans. As Christians we can encourage each other with Scripture; most of the New Testament churches lived in much more trying times than we are currently living in. Reading and discussing the Pauline Epistles, comparing the past and current eras can be very illuminating.

• We make use of our local church's online services. If you are struggling, reach out to your pastor or elders. We are to bear one another's burdens of which the flip side is that we shouldn't wallow in despair alone....reach out. If your church does not have online services, comment on this post and I can point you in the direction of good online services that are specific to your denomination.

• Pray. It sounds like such a simplistic answer, but in the heat of our emotional stewing prayer often doesn't occur to us. It is not only important that we pray, but also important how we pray.  Too often we pray for God to remove a bad situation from our lives, knowing full well that God is not going to do that. God uses these difficult times for our good and His glory. We need to pray instead that God would open our eyes to His purposes for us during this time. Pray that He would give us grace to endure these times. Pray that God would give us direction in what our response should be. Pray that we would trust God to meet our needs (this doesn't mean just sit on our bum) rather than a job. Pray that the Holy Spirit would show us how we can help others most if He has blessed us with resources.

• Be mindful of our emotional state and patient with the emotional state of those with whom we come into contact. If this is difficult for we who are Christians, imagine how difficult it is for those who have no hope in Christ's ultimate victory. Be aware of our feelings and when we find ourselves getting impatient or angry, ask ourselves what are we afraid of and is this really a rational fear. Perhaps it's that no one else will look out for us, or that we're going to die. Truth is, we are all going to die and there is no getting out of it short of the Lord returning. As a Christian, I long for the next life, a life free from the burden of sin so that I can truly worship God rightly. Perhaps we don't trust in the sovereignty or goodness of God as we think we do and these are the fires that refine our faith. Ultimately, those fires that refine us are a good thing. 

• Distract our selves from our worries by getting busy, listening to music, reading a book, trying a new recipe, or going for a walk. The key is to change what we are doing, without waiting for motivation. Action most often comes before motivation. Action actually leads to mental motivation.

Have any other suggestions? Please feel free to comment or message me. I would love to hear how you are coping.