I love people. I watch, I listen, I ask questions.

Today though, I must speak.

I’ve been saddened to see so many Christians, especially Catholics, respond to this current upheaval in tones of fear. 

I would understand if they were afraid for the things that will definitely hurt them and their friends: a crushed economy, loss of jobs, a vast increase in debilitating depression and anxiety in people they know and love, the abuse of the vulnerable in dysfunctional living situations.

But those aren’t the worries I typically see being expressed.

No, it’s fear of spreading (and honestly, contracting) the virus that they’re afraid of.

And that doesn’t make sense.

Unless.  Unless you forgot that we are mortal and have very little control over whether something catastrophic suddenly befalls us or our loved ones.

It is easy to forget. 

When we leave home in our cars and drive all over town, we think we are in control of what will happen, because we have our hands on the wheel. But we really are not.

[Just let me tell you about the day my car got destroyed…]

Just because we have a doctor to go to and there are lots of vaccines and chemical compounds available to relieve symptoms, did we think we were in control of whether a disease will kill us or not? We’re fools if we did. Lots of people die every year from diseases they never saw coming. We just weren’t paying attention.

No, we are not safe. We never were “safe” from germs or disasters, or madmen or the myriad other dangers that are always possible on this earth.

Hiding in our homes is a game we are playing to help us feel like we are doing the Right Thing. But it will not keep us “safe”. Everyone will encounter the virus sooner or later– that’s simply a mathematical reality.

The best our staying home might do is stretch out the number of sick people who need to go to the hospital over enough time so that our dear medical personnel can manage the case load. Maybe. Hopefully.

So quit being afraid. It doesn’t serve you. It is the devil winning against you. It is beneath your dignity.

Am I being insensitive?

Was Christ being “insensitive” when he chided the apostles for being freaked out about the storm? No, he was reminding them of who they were in the boat with – the Son of God.

Are you a Christian? Whose boat are you in? Live, or die, sick or well, are you with Christ or not?

If we have been striving for Heaven all along, holding tight to the hem of the Master’s robe, what difference if we go today or ten years from now? God knows best.

 I know I sound horribly cavalier to those who still have children at home or sick loved ones. There is no doubt that the loss of any one of us will wound and grieve the beloved left behind.  Tragic things happen every day, why should any one of us be immune? Is divorce much less tragic than death? I don’t think so.

I don’t want to lose my husband. He has become my hero, my treasure, my delight. He is also captain of our life and it is a very large and complex ship he runs. If he dies, I will have great difficulties on top of my grief. And yet, our lives are in God’s hands. May His will be done, not mine.

I am not being cruel or cold; I’m being honest. I’m trying to help us see the truth, and yes it will set us free.

Fear belongs to the devil. Jesus and just about every angel who ever showed up has said “Be not afraid”.  In fact, I’m pretty sure the only thing we are supposed to be afraid of is losing our salvation!  That has nothing to do with avoiding death, in fact, it has often required walking right into the teeth of it. 

Once we embrace the reality that we are not immune to catastrophe, that we and everyone we love will die sooner or later, a great weight lifts from the shoulders.

Instead of being afraid-

Jeer at Death, remind him that he’s been beaten by the Son of Man, and then get on with living boldly, knowing that each day may be your last – so make this moment as lovely, or as holy or as joyful as you can. Give glory to God.

And be not afraid.