The stench of death is in the air, and I’m not talking about Easter, or maybe I am. We’ve all been compelled into Lent, giving up life as we know it. What loving God would design a world like this? (I’d like to talk to your supervisor, please…wait, you don’t have one?) I mean, this world is by divine design. Right? Genesis goes through the six days of creation (OK, OK, I don’t take it literally.) and how happy God was with it. Nowhere doe it mention the creation of evil (like the small print you didn’t read on the contract), however if one believes in an all encompassing God, then evil is his/her doing, i.e., pathogens, viruses, mosquitoes, germs, things that are out to get us. Where’s the loving design there?
Is the pandemic God’s will? Is it God’s will my high school senior won’t be able to run his final track season or my burgeoning real estate year is in the garbage?
I’m venting, and that’s useless. It’s the seven stages of grieving, and I’m stuck in the anger stage.
So, is the pandemic threatening my faith?
I truly don’t think God saw this coming. This is our doing, more than we know. It started with Trump. (Sorry, gotta start somewhere.) The media has spread this virus around like the faithful son emptying grandpa’s ashes in a windstorm. Four years we’ve been living with elevated stress due to unceasing banner headlines about the newest Trump induced crisis. With cortisol squirting through our systems, our resistance has lowered. This planet, especially China and America (see tariff wars), was primed for a pandemic.
Suffering is a part of life. I don’t know why. And maybe the why is not as important as learning how to live with it.
Death and resurrection is a part of life. This pandemic offers an opportunity to die to one life and be reborn into a new one. It offers a time to reflect on what is important and see how that matches up to our day to day living. When we emerge on the other side, we may choose to enter a new life, one that is more intentional about connecting, hugging and listening compassionately.
The crucifixion is in progress; Easter is postponed, but it will come. You can believe that.