Coronavirus Pandemic Day 144: 2.04 Million Cases/115 Thousand Deaths
My nephew and his family have all tested positive for COVID-19. At this moment he is quite ill. They are among the 1.99 million current cases, an increase since my last post of 1,402. The current death toll is 108 thousand; an increase since my Tuesday post of 399. Think about that. In two days, 399 more people have died of this disease that continues to try and test us. And until the number of infections and deaths ceases, we will live in a world unlike the one we knew when this new decade began. Air hugs, elbow bumps, wind kisses, physical distancing (6 ft. apart please), 20 second hand washing, and mouths and noses covered by a mask refashion how we interact with each other. And don’t forget the Lysol spray, Purell hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes (if you can find them)! Precious commodities in a world defined by a virus.
As you know of course, this new normal is juxtaposed with the movement fueled by social protests and demonstrations for equality and an end to the systemic racism that still defines this nation. Although the size of the crowds marching in protest are not as large as they were in the beginning, the demands for change have not lessen. The moment that has become a movement is speaking to the hearts of many who heretofore accepted the status quo, or saw little wrong with it. For them the issue of race had been laid to rest decades ago – after all the country had an African American president for eight years. Surely there remained no traces of those years of racial divide after all this time. What the current climate has birthed is the recognition that underneath the shiny surface of “All is well within the good old USA,” lay spirits still tarnished and dulled by racial hatred and a sense of superiority. For the most part, people of color knew the duality; others either didn’t know or didn’t care.
So here we are, a nation fighting two wars on its own soil at the same time. The Health and Race War of 2020 is not an experience we ever could have imagined. A statement written by Oswald Chambers in his classic devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, speaks well to this most unlikely period in our history. “Experience is a gateway, not an end.” God has allowed us the experience of fighting two wars simultaneously. Neither need be the end of this grand experiment called “America.” With God’s guidance and inspiration, each can become the gateway to life as He would have us live it. Finding viable solutions to a global pandemic that will improve the health of every citizen is a battle well worth the inconveniences and prohibitions and changes in old norms we live with now. Likewise, admitting and owning racial feelings and behaviors and systemic racial practices that impede and deny full citizenship to people of color; and deliberately working to eradicate them is the only arsenal that will lead to victory in this race war. My prayer is that each threat will be seen as Chambers describes – a gateway for a country to live the principles it espouses.
Love. Joy. Peace.