The Coronavirus/covid-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic locked us down in our communities and homes for months in the spring of 2020. And while we were locked down, in fear of getting sick or making others sick, we slowly became restless and angry at the loss of freedom we experienced. Being told to wear masks, keep socially distant from others, move in one-way aisles while we shopped, and being told when to shop was too much for us.
Our reaction to what the media fed us became overwhelming and the media played story after story of the worst possible news. We were traumatized! Rolling COVID death counters were everywhere, messages to keep away from others broadcasted from speakers and virus reminders (all in red) on every website, news outlet, and app now play unceasingly. Commercial brands constantly update us via e-mail, text, websites, ads and our snail mail to remind us of how wonderful they were in their response to the crisis. It is crazy!
Here we are, only a few months later, and the political arena has gone wild. Democrats bowing down in solidarity on one knee in African kente cloths in an attempt to unify the left, while Republicans attempt to overcome the political damage caused by police abuse, while riots and protests rage in the streets and in Washington. Racial injustice reminders are now placed everywhere and suddenly too. There were protests and riots in every state of our union, supported leniently by our media and the Democrats in government while disregarding the social distancing and other virus protection measures we held dear for months. What is the effect of these destructive events? Let’s take a pulse on our pillars of our society:
Police: Our police are quitting across the nation in mass, including officers in Atlanta, because of the protests and the lack of support from Democrat leadership in our government. And why not? Without public support, the #defundpolice initiative, the mission to protect and serve is lost. Our police officers can no longer even trust the food served to them in the drive through. Some have made videos before they chose to resign to express their sadness of ending a career they loved. Our police are unsupported. What are we doing?
Teachers: Teachers are losing hope in a system that seems to be set up against them. Zoom replaced their classrooms for the last 3 months and many lost complete control over the grading of classes and students. Students, who simply checked out and never returned to the classroom didn’t face discipline and received the grade they had before the quarantine closed the schools, in March. Whether it be angry parents, lying students or new draconian measures requiring each teacher to perform against their training, support immoral initiatives, despite salary decreases, lack of school leadership support, and public support that only made the job more difficult and painful. Our teachers feel unsupported. What are we doing?
Ministers: The pandemic scare devastated our churches. Churches sat empty and so did offering baskets and tithes to support them. The loss of jobs everyone experienced overnight, caused many pastors to try to help, only finding themselves at a complete loss due to the number of people needing help. Many ministers are looking to close their already low-attendance churches, while others are dropping out of the pulpit soon. Many have stayed out of the political and world drama, which has made them appear irrelevant and unhelpful and in truth, some were. Some churches were burned down because of their desire to uphold our religious rights and paid the price while others lost their lives to the virus. Pastors are called to feed and tend the sheepfold. Many do great and adjusted quickly to the needs of their flock, while other found themselves helpless many others headed up the fight and re-opened churches, despite being arrested, condemned, and dishonored because of their faith. In the end, our pastors are unsupported and some feel alone. What are we doing?
Culture: TV shows, cartoons, and shows showing morals and law-abiding values are being modified or canceled to reveal a new view of the world. They are replaced by immoral, sexually charged, morally void views on how we, as a people, should see ourselves, look, act, and removes us from Christ’s teachings. What are we doing?
History: Statues of historical (and controversial) figures are being removed in each state across the United States, which erases our history and the heritage of every citizen in the United States, regardless of their national origin or skin color. Link to list of statues torn down or removed by protester and rioters. Our history is being destroyed. What are we doing?
As Christians, we all know that we are to be above this. We aren’t to be about things of this world, but of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are to bring Heaven to earth. We are to change what is happening around us. Not through protests, not through destruction and mayhem, but through love, education, self-control, patience, and the like.
I pray that you will receive comfort and peace in this hour, as the world continues to move in a direction that none of us thought we would see in our lifetimes. We need to encourage each other, band together and love each other as we never have before. It is time to rise up and be counted on God’s scrolls. To count our lives as blessed and to be ready for whatever comes our way by trusting in the one who created all of us. We must not cancel are appointment with Him.
In Christ,
Darrell B. Jones