Nobody likes to be told what to do. Unless of course our back is against the wall. But true to human-nature the minute we’re out of an danger we take over again.
It’s nothing more than pride. Something to be tamed.
Well I can speak to this a little. Having MS and declining function taught me something about pride. Riding a lawn mower for transportation and moving in with a pack of seniors humbled me alright, along with other MS restrictions. I could’ve gotten bitter about them and I had work at not taking that attitude. But I had help (God). And somehow it worked. I love living here. I feel good about it. Even amidst Covid where things are dire in facilities like this. I still feel so lucky, grateful and safe to be here. I’m not burning up energy un-necessarily.
I’m sad when I watch the news and see defiant people pouring out their anger on others, not wearing a mask or abiding by a restriction they don’t like. They're burning up unnecessary energy. Pride will not allow them pass through the gates to freedom. If they would only see how damaging it really is, we’d get through this pandemic much quicker.
Covid is here to stay there’s no question. And so is the suffering. So how can we can make a better experience of it?
We all agree it has exposed some of our worst that needs to change. Yet many of the people I talk to aren’t willing to change their personal habits, beliefs, or thoughts ‘because it won’t make a difference anyway’. My soap bottle won't change anything, so what if I mad as a hornet, so what if I hurt anyone - what's that compared to giant scheme of things? Our planet is belching back. Our people are belching back.
If more don’t do more than belch, we're not even close to being finished with this. But when we willingly choose to make changes under our own roof, in our own heart, we have a better chance of not only ending this pandemic sooner but ending it before coming unglued.
Laugh you may, but healing our broken world is going to happen one heart, one day at a time. One heart has influence over other hearts. That is how we’re going to move mountain ranges. Starting under our own roof. Where am I over consuming? Where am I harboring resentment and ill attitude? What are my absolute non-negotiables? Why? Are those seeds of future decay? Changing to ‘What can I do about it? How can I help? What am I grateful for?’ These are the seeds of intention and good will that will bring about a bountiful harvest. The ripple effect works.
No, we’re not perfect and going to get it right the first time, but effort counts. Reason tells me if intention and effort can influence in the wrong direction, they too, can add up in the right direction.
Covid is tough, there’s no question. We’re all suffering. But we’re not alone. Jesus was human like us. And he suffered like us. But he didn’t clamor for more or complain with less. He got busy doing what he could. And continuously talked to his Father to draw strength. We can learn from that.
When Jesus told the disciples He was going to suffer, die and rise on the third day. Peter got mad at him. He got mad because Peter gave up his life as a fisherman to build a church with Him. They had plans. They were just getting started. He couldn’t leave now. But Jesus gave it back to him.
Why? Because they had no idea what God had in store for them. God knew what he was doing. He knew what was coming. He tried to tell them but they couldn’t begin to understand. How could they? The dead rise? A Holy Spirit? Who could believe such preposterous things?
Same like us. With all that’s going on we can’t even begin to imagine what God has in store. Its sort of like the disciples when they couldn’t begin to fathom what was coming when Jesus said he had to suffer and die. But would rise again.
The disciples didn't know what to expect but they did as they were told and waited. They kept what they learned in their hearts. They didn’t turn back. They waited. And when the Holy Spirit descended it astounded everyone. Tongues on fire, witnesses speaking in their own languages, Peter’s bold commentary. How do you anticipate something no human mind can even begin to fathom.
So we in these terrible days don’t have to stop short. It just isn’t according to our plan. We need to change our ways. Not their ways. We need to keep our eyes focused on what light we can find, do what we can. There is good. Be influenced by it. Influence others.
We can’t even begin in our wildest imaginations, to picture how it will turn out. But if we trust, ‘he’ll lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them, I will turn the darkness into light before them and make rough places smooth.’ Isaiah 42:16-17
No, life won’t be like anything we could imagine for ourselves.
It will be a thousand times better.