My list of covid-positive friends to pray for is getting longer and longer. Just today I added seven more names. It’s getting so long that I have to write the list down instead of keeping it in my head.
Omicron has smothered our Christmas euphoria and New Year optimism. More and more people are locked in isolation or quarantine. I will not be surprised that we will have workplace paranoia: will I get covid at the office?
How are we to respond? We have but one: as the number of cases multiply, we have to multiply our hope.
Look, sometimes I wonder if we are in a pandemic Sisyphus. In ancient Greek myth, Sisyphus was punished by the gods in that he was to repeatedly roll a heavy rock up a hill in Hades. As soon as he reached the top, the rock rolled back down to the bottom.
In our case, heaven forbid that for every vaccine invented to kill one variant, a new strain takes its place. I dread an alternative history that will be forever divided into three chunks: B.C.E., A.D., and COVID. “Walang katapusan” is the apt Filipino worry.
But here’s something better than sinking into despair.
Do you know that we can expand the capacity of our emotions? We can embrace both joy and sorrow at the same time. We can douse fear with courage. We can temper anger with mercy. We can stretch patience and grit until the prize is won.
In the same way, when we hear of another person who has covid, we make room in our hearts for more hope. Hope that he or she will get well. Hope that there is indeed a time limit to the pandemic.
And yes, hope in a God different from what Sisyphus had. Those imaginary Greek deities took perverse glee in this man’s futility. But we have a real God who hates this pandemic far more than we do.
So why doesn’t God just wave His hand and make it all go away? You know, like a bad dream? Or are we just kidding ourselves with all those prayers? Does this mean we don’t need more faith; we just need more disinfectant?
I don’t know. But one thing I know:
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5, 11; 46:5)
So when you know of yet another friend who has covid, choose again to hope in God, “for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”
Is this God your God? If so, multiply your hope. Look forward to praise.
Have a hope-full week ahead! Shalom.
January 15, 2022
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