Yes, I’m afraid. But my fleeting fear rests on this fact: This too shall pass.
Coronavirus should be taken seriously. We shouldn’t just keep on hanging out with all of our cohorts, sharing food, drinks, laughs in a crowded space, spraying respiratory droplets all over each other like we’re watering the lawn. Gross, but true.
Yet, we can’t live in fear either. Perspective is needed. There have been other epidemics and pandemics. And some of them have been incredibly deadly: AIDS (2005-2012) killed 36 million people, Spanish flu (1918) 20-50 million, The Black Death (1346-1353) 75-200 million. And humanity has survived them all.
So in those quiet moments, when it’s easy to get swept up and think the darkest thoughts surrounded by darkness, where we only see visions that make us tremble, remember this: the days will not always be dark.
Perhaps this is an opportunity to do some business with the Divine. Global crises seem to make those opportunities more opportune than they would have been if everything was bright. But God is humble and takes us no matter what draws us near so long as we do.
But no matter what state your soul is in or if governments start to close down borders, schools, or our favorite eateries and pubs—this too shall pass.
All of the epidemics and global crises that have hit this world have passed. And like a morning mist, they disappear years later as we forget them almost as if they never happened.
We are living through grave and difficult times. It is extraordinary.
But the dawn is coming.
It may get darker before we see the light. But it will come. And it will scatter the shadows before you.
And we will be eating and drinking together, laughing again and sharing our respiratory droplets freely without care, in the days to come.
To pass this time, I’m reading:
- Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It (affiliate): Top FBI negotiator, Chris Voss, shares his secrets and tactics of how he won negotiations in life and death situations so that we can negotiate everything from our salaries to getting our children to do what we want. I haven’t finished this yet, but it’s been an incredible read so far. His stories alone are worth the read. But the concepts are simple but awfully useful. This book is a great investment.
- The Great Gatsby (affiliate): Beauty—that’s why I read this book repeatedly. Fitzgerald, the author, paints spectacular pictures with words that stir the soul like an ocean breeze as you stand gazing at the sun dipping into the shimmering watery horizon. If you want to draw your mind away from anything awful, read this.
- The Four Loves (affiliate): Love is life. Yet, it’s so hard to define. Good thing C. S. Lewis does it for us in this seminal work that gives us a deeper understanding in this essential element of living so that we might all live better each and every day, with or without a pandemic.
Just because it’s scary outside, doesn’t mean we can’t cultivate beauty within. Books and beautiful words do that for us, friends. I hope you fill yourself with them.
Lots of love to you.
John
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