For the past thirty-plus day the world has been asked to
stop in it’s tracks in order to stop the pandemic of COVID-19 from spreading
and leaving historical proportions of dead in it’s wake. It has forced us all to stay close to
home. To work from home or to be
unemployed. It has forced health care
workers to put themselves in harms way to care for the sick that are coming to
them.
Busy city streets are deserted. Store fronts closed. Life sucked out of them as if a vacuum has removed all signs of life. We are waging a war that we cannot visibly
see – a virus so small yet so dangerous.
Yet our city’s look as though there was a war with their shuttered
windows and locked doors.
Today, as I took a walk around my
temporary neighborhood I spotted this rose.
This perfect, beautiful red rose right next to the sidewalk. I couldn’t help but stop to smell it as
sometimes the fragrance can be so lovely.
This one was not exuding any strong smell, but that did not stop it from
being any less perfect. It is a gift
from God that reminds us that spring is coming, that there is hope even in the
darkest of times.
There is hope in the midst of everything going on in our
world right now. While borders have shut
down, stores have closed, we have heard of less violence, of less real-time
wars in the news. No mass shootings
because there are no masses to be found.
With parents now having to be teachers, they are learning just how much
teachers should be valued. They realize
that teachers must have the patience of saints because they deal with a
classroom full of kids – and they only have to deal with their own.
In some areas, there are families walking and biking
together now that they have time with their work life gone or reduced. Neighbors being more neighborly. People cooking more at home – or ordering
from small restaurants in order to keep their doors open.
Air pollution has nearly gone away without all the cars out
driving around. Gas prices have
dropped. It’s a throwback to the “good
ol’ days”.
It does not diminish the fact that hundred of thousands of
people are suffering without paychecks.
That the working poor have become even poorer at this time. We, as a community, need to come together and
do what we can for these people. Help
with clothes, food, support.
Some businesses have closed their doors forever. Those that survive will take a long time to
recoup their losses.
My hope is that we do not return to the normal we’ve been
accustomed to – that we return to a better version of normal. A one where more people help people, where
more neighbors are neighborly. A world
where we watch out for one another. That
when we remove the face masks, people will see us for our smiles and not our
skin colors. That we appreciate those
who sacrifice for us on a different warfront.
The nurses and doctors, the grocery store clerks and food delivery
folk. That we appreciate our families
and our time together that was forced on us but we want to continue when we no
longer have to be self-quarantined.
Like the rose that is blossoming and showing us her glory –
so too will our world when it is time to begin the process of reopening. Even in this time of quarantine, this rose
shows us that there is hope. That spring
is here and better days will be coming.
If God cares so much about creating this simple yet beautiful creation
of a rose – how much more do you think He cares for His children?
Together we will make it through this time
of change, this time of stress, this time of evolving. Keep the faith.
Here is another photo I snapped today. John 3:16
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