Lenten Reflection- One Year On

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Romans 8:38-39

My husband and I finished watching President Biden’s first address to the nation.  March 11 was chosen for a reason, it was on this day one year ago That Everything Changed.  It was the day that the World Health Organization officially called COVID-19 a pandemic, affecting every part of the world.  The National Basketball Association abruptly canceled a game in Oklahoma City between the Thunder and the Utah Jazz because a player on the Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus. Tom Hanks and his wife also tested positive.  I remember sitting in my office at church and kept hearing this school was closing, this university was closing, this festival was canceled. Everything was shutting down.

I remember gathering with folks from First for Bible Study. We had made plans how to worship safely the coming Sunday, but the plans were never used.  Things moved so fast, that by the next evening, everything changed-again. We soon canceled worship for that Sunday and for Sundays going onward.

When former President Trump was released from the hospital after his bout with COVID, he told people to not let the virus control their lives.  But that was the voice of a man still in denial.  He wanted to pretend the virus was no big deal.  But people had to reorient their lives. We went from working in offices to working at home. We stopped eating in restaurants.  Major activities were canceled throughout the year.  People lost jobs. Asian Americans faced bigotry because of where the virus originated. Friends we knew became ill.  We all had to wear masks.  Things changed.  Trump might want to pretend we have a choice in not letting COVID rule our lives, but the reality is that we didn’t have a choice.  The coronavirus did change our lives.  It is changing us now and will change us in ways we haven’t yet contemplated.  How can the loss of over 500,000 people not change us?

The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic makes me think about the last two Avengers movies: Infinity War and Endgame. The end of Infinity War has half of all living things in the universe turning into dust after the villain, Thanos snaps his fingers. Endgame opens to a changed world. Five years after the event, people are still dealing with the effects.  Family, friends and lovers all vanished those left behind are don’t know how to move forward.  You don’t move forward easily.  I think the words trauma and traumatic are used way too much these days, but the words fit in the world after the Snap and it fits in the world after March 11.  Our world dramatically changed and we were traumatized.  

This has been a year when it seemed like hope seemed far away.  But in reality, it was never that far away. Hope was there, even in the darkest times, hope was there. I decided to look at the sermon I wrote for that first Sunday in quarantine.  I changed what I was going to preach about focusing on a passage in the Bible from the book of Romans. I share a little of it now as a reminder of that time last year, and what we still have to face:

We are facing something we didn’t even know existed months ago.  We don’t know how bad it will get. We worry about family and friends and if they will be alright.  What Paul tells us is that things are uncertain now and could get worse, but nothing, not even a virus can stop God from loving us in and having victory over the evil powers that threaten us and all of creation.  It isn’t the end, but the beginning of the end.

As the church, we are a community gathered by grace to share God’s love for the sake of the world. How in this time of fear and uncertainty, can we show people that God loves them no matter what?  It might mean praying for our family and friends and for the world at this time, especially those doctors and nurses who are on the front lines of this battle.  Since we can’t really see each other face to face, it might mean checking on people.  Maybe it’s showing kindness to the people working at the grocery store continuously stocking shelves.  You get the idea.  At this time of crisis and it is a crisis, we have an opportunity to share the love of God with others and let them know that no virus can ever stop God from loving us and caring for us…

The preacher Tony Campolo once told a story of having to do a funeral back in the 1980s.  This was during the early days of another plague, in this case, the AIDS crisis.  The man in question was gay and did die of AIDS.  A few of his friends who were also gay came to the funeral.  As they gathered at the graveside, Campolo read from Romans 8:38-39.  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. “

The men perked up.  They asked him if what the Bible said was true. Campolo responded yes. Then something happened.  One man asked him to read another Bible verse.  Another man asked for a different verse and Campolo read that one too.  Then another man asked for another verse and it kept going. Campolo learned from that experience how hungry these men were to hear the good news.  At a time when these men were considered outcasts, someone was there to remind them that God loves them…

We are facing challenging days.  This is bad and will get worse.  But remember that no matter what, we are loved by God. Our baptismal promise tells us that nothing, nothing separates us from God’s love. Not even a little virus.  That is good news in an ominous time.

We are still in a challenging time.  Even though we are getting vaccinated, we don’t know if we are totally out of the woods.  But hope still remains.  It is there.  

One year on, we have been through hell.  There has been much sorrow and death.  But even through all the heartache and fear and hatred, love remains.  If I was like the former President in believing that I don’t need to let COVID rule my life, then love wouldn’t be necessary.  But I don’t live in that world, so I am thankful for the love of family, friends, my husband, my mother and my God.  I pray I can share that love with those who are hurting in the aftermath of March 11, when everything changed and when a virus ruled our lives. 

One year on, love remains.