Volume 8, Issue 12
This is the first such crisis in history wherein the world is connected in its entirety economically, politically, and in fluidity of travel.
We feel overwhelmed. We do not know how to prioritize actions, not knowing what steps are essential and what steps are elective. The unpredictability of the future renders us helpless for there is no secure vision of the future past two weeks of quarantine.
What are we then to do to protect our families and to support the country we hold so dear?
History is our best teacher. Those people who survived plagues, pestilence, famine, invading armies, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, cultural prejudice, societal bigotry, and any other sort of infliction posed by nature or mankind, did so by doing two things. They just took the next step right in front of them. And they maintained at least one overriding principle manifesting the essence of their identity.
In Genesis of the Judeo-Christian Bible, Joseph, son of Jacob, was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. It was the ultimate familial betrayal. Through a series of miraculous events pursuant to the favor of God, Joseph, loyal to his commitment to the tenets of his character, rose to be the Regent in charge of all of Pharaoh’s land, resources and wealth. When famine struck the land, Joseph’s brothers, out of critical need for food, were dispatched by Jacob to buy grain in Egypt. Joseph, having interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams as a message from God, knew there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph managed the surplus. When Joseph’s brothers appeared before him, he was overcome with emotion. His brothers at first did not recognize him. When reconciled in relationship, Joseph provided for his brothers. He instructed them saying, “And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” (Genesis 45:7) Joseph was reunited with his father and his brothers in Joseph’s honor and in the honor of their heavenly Father’s will.
Each day of Joseph’s captivity, he took the next step before him as presented by his circumstances. But he never abandoned the honor of his character. In these times, we must do each and every day what is right before us, as dictated by our circumstances, to support our families. It is that which we are committed to, in the manifestation of the tenets of our character, that supports the generations.
We will survive this pandemic trial by recommitting, seeking, and developing relationships. How we treat our neighbors, how we take care of the vulnerable in our society, and how we support our government leaders will lay the foundation for the measure of benefits of the silver lining in this tragedy.
There is great concern among the intellectuals about what America will look like after the nation’s transformation of dealing with this unprecedented health care disaster. Will we protect our freedoms? Will the states maintain their rights? Will government give back tentative power? Will the sovereigns of the world pressure global economics for socialism? Will partisanship be the scar that never heals? These are the great issues that were in fact the compendium of the emotive debate prior to the global pandemic.
These great divides of ideology will re-emerge as central to the discussion of government policy for, in context, they are eternal to the definition of righteousness.
Each of us knows implicitly the value system and the government structure that supports our morals. We need not abandon our spiritual mandates. These ideologies, seen through the lens of biased perspective, can not only come to different conclusions, but different terms of righteousness. What is important is that it is incumbent upon each of us not to let crisis skew our own viewpoint of righteous morality.
What is most important is to do what is asked of us to cooperate for the good of our society individually and with our families. The universal message resonating throughout the airwaves is that we will get through this together. How we will do this is by building relationships. And in so doing, build connectivity with those who, in the past, we had little personal affinity.
Once coronavirus is conquered, the world will likely get back to its former rhythms of reality. The big ideological issues that divide us will still persist. Possibly, the most beneficial thing that we can do, for both our immediate survival and the process of finding solutions to bridge our great divide, is to build relationships of trust in our joint efforts to help each other against this current world threat.
Perhaps we have been sent for a time such as this to preserve for each other a remnant of relationships on earth to keep alive many survivors.
As Joseph honored his duty in a time of conflict not made clear to him until the culmination of events, so may we, in these times, at the end of this unprecedented challenge, leave for the generations, remnant relationships.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?