Yesterday, I had a conversation with a friend of mine and I asked her how she was dealing with this coronavirus pandemic. What she responded resonated in me spiritually, and is therefore, the focus of today’s reflection. She expressed that as she was driving on her way to complete her essential tasks, what struck her most was how normal everything seemed outside. Yet, people around the world are sick or dying. People’s lives are impacted.
When there is a massive snowstorm shutting the town down, you see the visual impact. This is also the case with a hurricane. But when we step outside our front doors, outside of not having the pedestrian or vehicular traffic, it seems like an ordinary day.
If this was a typical storm, we would be experiencing the torrential rains and winds. We would witness the brightness of the lightning strikes against the dark skies. But the storm that most of us are currently facing now, may not represent a typical storm. Obviously, those in the middle of the storm are front-line responders and essential personnel. While the storm of others, differ. They are in the side-lines. It consists of what they we see in the media. It consists of their inability to work or socialize. It consists of the confinements of the four walls of their home. I guess, the best way to better describe this is through a hurricane. Some of us, are in the eye of the storm. Some of us, are situated in the eyewall. And others, are represented in the rainbands. But, regardless of how turbulent or calm our storm can appear…we are all in it.
And so today, I pray for everyone affected by this coronavirus pandemic storm. And I encourage you to hold on to the faith represented in today’s Scriptural passage. May God calm the storm…our storm, so its waves….all waves, are calm.