The Alternative is Not an Option

“Words are letters often shaped in quiet thought that paint a picture, tell a story, or recall a memory.” My younger son made that statement over fifteen years ago. There is so much thought behind it that I’ve used it repeatedly in different ways over the years. Today, it takes on another meaning, at least for me.

Putting it simply—but not reducing the magnitude of it—in the last eight weeks our world has changed. Words have been used to describe that change in a way that two months ago they would not have been on our vocabulary radar. Pandemic. Isolation. Physical distancing. Social responsibility. Emergency funding. Essential services, to name just a few. I would suggest that the general public would not be familiar with terms such as intubating and extubating (unless, of course you have medical training). And acronyms such as PPE (personal protective equipment), LTC (long-term-care), PPP (paycheck protection plan), and of course, COVID (coronavirus) have now become the new normal in our everyday language.

As said above, words can paint pictures. What does your mind’s eye see when you read that Canada and the United States have closed their borders, that food banks see a drop in donations despite the spike in demand, that funerals can only see ten in attendance and other gatherings are limited to five, and that there’s a continual escalation of cases and deaths of COVID-19 among seniors?

Words tell the story that we need to “flatten the curve.” Charts, images, and verbal descriptions attempt to clarify the meaning and necessary results. Cartoon images on popular media venues attempt to help us find some humour in an otherwise serious situation. Then we read stories that job security for the multitudes is threatened with closures and self-isolating, healthcare professionals are concerned about delayed medical procedures and the worry that the aftermath will be daunting. The story unfolds further with the “stay home” mandate that is prevalent on TV news channels, on highway signage, and on closed storefront doors. And we are left wondering what all this means for families, lonely individuals, investments for the future, and just day-to-day living?

On the upside, we read words that bring hope. Our grandson said “I do” and married his bride on our daughter’s front lawn, respecting the minimum of five gathering and the six-foot distancing. (BTW, the wedding was watched on cell phones in our cars around the neighbourhood through a shared link. We did a drive-by when it was over. They are exceedingly happy!) Livestreaming or prerecorded church services are reaching a greater audience than the pre-pandemic era. Families and friends are ‘seeing’ each other more often and Bible studies are constantly filling the internet via Zoom. We read how four colleague zookeepers hunkered down to care for the animals in a fourteen-acre park zoo just before the lockdown in the UK. We learned that air pollution dropped 15% in March in five of Canada’s largest cities where traffic volumes have been cut in half and rush hour has become nonexistent. As a result of a lockdown in one European city that is dependent upon rivers for transportation, waterways are running clearer without pollution from motorboats. There’s hope in those words, despite the realization that unless we can learn from this tragedy, the air and waterways will once again return to pre-pandemic smog and contamination .

Words continue to fill our minds in the form of questions: Adults are asking, Will there be enough emergency medical equipment available to those in need? Where does the billions of dollars come from that our nation is making available?  If the curve is flattening, when will our economy reopen, when can I return to work and normal every-day living? Children are asking, When can I go back to school or go to the park with my friends? When can I hug my Nana or Papa? And a select  majority are seeking the answer to: When can I go back to worship collectively in my church?

The endless questions continue from every generation, every social and economic level, from the healthcare professionals to the lonely person in long-term-care facilities to the single parent on welfare, and from anyone who faces fearmongering, (the spreading of frightening and exaggerated rumours of an impending danger to purposely arouse fear in order to manipulate the public (Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia).

But there is one question that is seldom heard over the news media. A question that may be thought about in anger. A question that is seeking someone to blame. A question that may even be on the heart of the strongest Christian who is struggling and confused: Where is a loving and merciful God in all of this?

There, I’ve said it. The question that is never heard because regardless of how it is answered, it will be difficult to accept, let alone believe. The answer is not found in the words sung by Bette Midler, God is watching us from a distance because God is right in the middle of this pandemic. He is in the middle of the myriad of deaths worldwide. He is holding the hands of healthcare professionals as they strive to keep patients alive and, when death takes an individual, He’s there as they struggle with the loss. God is in the middle—even if not acknowledged—of decisions politicians and world leaders are making. And as the world deals with a pandemic, God is in the middle of the tragedy that hit our eastern province two weeks ago, an evil act that goes beyond words. Closer to home, He is holding the hands of the parents and family who are facing the sudden loss of their twenty-two- year-old son. And He is in the centre of the abused and abuser’s home, the family who is facing hardship, the street person who is hungry, alone and scared. I know that sounds like an easy answer to a difficult question, but the truth is, God is not watching from a distance, confused and surprised. He IS in the middle of it all! Having said that, I know this may come across as self-righteous insensitivity that makes nonreligious people despise Christians and denounce God, but I stand on my convictions that God is not silent during this moment in global history. Nor is He absent.

So, now a final question must be asked: If a loving and merciful God is in the middle, why doesn’t He do something about this horrific time in our world, and if He is doing something, what is it?

If I had the answer to that, I’d be God. But in His mercy and grace, God’s Word helps us remember that as His child, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). Discernment comes hand-in-hand with wisdom, and as a follower of Christ, I/we must be careful in how we presume to answer such a question. All we can do is seek out God’s Word for comfort and rest in His assurance that He IS in the middle, that He IS NOT silent, and that He is grieving along side His creation.

Can good come from this? It would be easy for me to say yes as I sit in my home, at my computer, healthy and void of any illness. It would be easy to say yes when I see my family safe from harm and infection. But I believe that as a human being, it would be hard for me not to want to see some good come from such upheaval, from such loss and confusion. It would be pointless, even destructive, if I didn’t attempt to see this global pandemic as God’s mercy in disguise. It has to be. The alternative is not an option.

The following is a song entitled Blessing by Laura Story. I’ve included the words of the chorus to bring closure to my somewhat lengthy blog. I trust it will bring comfort to you in your—our— hurting world.

“…what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life
-the rain, the storms, the hardest nights-
are Your mercies in disguise.”