Welcome to Another World

It’s several weeks into the Corona Virus pandemic, and life continues on down a bumpy and uncertain path with no defined end in sight.  We may think that to be a strange and unfamiliar way to live life, but we have to understand that our lives are lived that way all of the time.  Oh, we may well fool ourselves into thinking that we’ve made the path straight and smooth, and we think we have placed a well-defined destination at the end, but the reality is that all of that is illusion, and we really have no clue what our path holds in the future and not the slightest concept of what lies at the end.

We delude ourselves into thinking that we have control of our lives.  We plan ahead.  We think ahead.  We work hard to smooth things out for the future.  We many times even go to the extremes of scheming and finagling in order to make things look like we want them to look.  But as we are quickly finding, all of that can be for naught when something like the Corona Virus comes calling on the world.

Our financial plans go into the pits.  Our health is in peril.  Jobs go away.  Resources dry up.  Shortages appear.  Even human interaction is limited.  Our money is worthless if there is nothing on the store shelf to purchase.  The paths of our lives suddenly are filled with bumps and potholes that nothing can fill or smooth away.  We begin to think just a day or week ahead instead of a year or decade ahead.  Our world shrinks markedly as we shelter in place and become concerned for basic necessities in the next day or two.  All because of an unseen speck of genetic material that invades our bodies and spreads rapidly through societies around the globe.

Well, welcome to the world of most of the human population.  For most of the humans who are or ever have lived, this is their world.  They live from day to day.  Many earn just enough money at work one day in order to buy food for the next day.  And if they’re sick and can’t work, or if work isn’t available, they don’t eat the next day.  They have no savings accounts.  They have no credit cards.  They have no transportation.  They have no hope of affording medical or dental care.  If a tooth breaks off or becomes infected, they live with it.  If they become ill, they do their best to survive the illness on their own.  Next year?  They don’t even know if they’ll have the next day.

And you might think those people are congregated in third-world countries, but I tell you they are right here…on our doorstep.  They are those who, although they may or may not be homeless, do not have the resources to tap into the services most of the rest of us take for granted.  Government programs pretty much keep these people in some state of existence, but those same programs often through their regulations unwittingly (or not) keep these people from ever making any progress in life and living.

These are the ones in the Section 8-type of housing.  These are the ones living alone in a run-down house in a run-down neighborhood.  These are the disabled, the homeless, the addicts.  These are the throw-away people in our society.

And when it comes to those in third world nations, I can’t begin to understand the depth of the poverty.  I’ve been told stories by those who have been there and seen it.  I’ve seen photos and movies.  But the comprehension just isn’t there for me.  It’s a different world.  It’s a different way of thinking.  It’s survival at its basic level.  Tolerable water for the day.   Tolerable food for the day.  Stay away from predators.  Have some kind of basic shelter from the storms.  Provide some kind of protection from those who would harm.  And do it on a daily basis.

I can’t help but think that we’ll be called to account for how we think of and deal with this kind of poverty.  I can’t help but think that we have some kind of responsibility beyond feeling sad for the people in these situations.  I can’t help but think that there is an expectation that we sacrifice at least a little in order to make things better for others.

So, when you next are feeling somewhat down or depressed because the movie theaters aren’t open, you can’t go to your favorite restaurant or hang-out, and your hair is starting to show its natural color because the salons are closed, think about those who don’t even have those things in their minds, let alone are feeling sad because they can’t access those services.  Thank God for the blessings you have.  Be kind.  Share.  And walk humbly.