…Social Distancing…

We’ve learned, through the years and across the centuries, how to live better, safer, cleaner and healthier. Technology, medicine, and sciences have improved our world. Think about what the internet has done for all of us! I can connect with a doctor through my medical app and be diagnosed and treated for any number of issues. All without leaving the comfort of my connectivity.

Move into the 21st Century and we are suddenly more aware of all the dangers. We note how much better it is to be apart than together. With the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we are acutely aware of the dangers of passing diseases that circle the globe in a matter of hours and days.

Companies are quickly looking at how best to protect their most valuable assets. Employees! Let’s see when telecommuting becomes the latest fad and what it will mean for the real estate assets of an office! Or even a retail store!

A phrase popped out this morning…. social distancing …and this tells us what the future could portend. Where we once thought only as a connected and physical grouping, we are now considering how to distance ourselves from each other for safety reasons. Think, Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov, and you will understand the concept.

Distancing Ourselves

While making our drive from Washington to Texas we fell in love with a “truck stop” called Love’s. Good prices on the fuel, great coffee options, and clean restrooms.

No matter how good it might be, it’s the people you watch out for. Hand sanitizers are all over the place. Paper towels are used to open and close doors. Let someone cough (and he did all over the soda fountain), immediately you’re ready to flee to the safety of your car!

It happened to us several times!

While shopping I heard a man tell his young son (in a bathroom stall), “No. Touch nothing! Don’t! I told you. Don’t touch anything!” I was smiling at him big time when he stepped out. I’m very glad to hear a father teach his son! There are safety habits being presented all the time! Let’s make use of the lessons!

But good habits do not preclude a virus sweeping through air currents. Or being spread by innocent touching of appliances, or even animals. I’m just saying.

Social Distancing will not protect us from everything, all the time, or even some of the time. Predators exist on most platforms even when we’re remaining healthy because we are not in close contact.

How Do We Respond

There are fearmongers (someone who spreads fear or needlessly raises the alarm), fear zones, and frightful situations that affect us all the time. Imagine those who are fearful of spiders and snakes. They become petrified and then react with theatrics. Some of us just shake our heads… “It’s okay. Here. Let me show you!”

We had a bee nest in the wall of a church a generation ago. They swarmed and one man said, “Here. Let me get it. They never sting me!”, only to be stung multiple times! False bravado? Just as bad a fearmongering? Possibly.

Responsiveness is the key to everything we do. It is easy to reject those who face their fears with fearful reactions, but for the Grace of God, we each could live with our knuckles dragging the ground!

I was listening to my brother, Ken Gurley, speak on his Monday Ministry segment on Facebook. He laid out 5 Do’s and Don’ts for us to consider.

1. Don’t Panic, but Do Plan.
2. Do Face Reality, Don’t Hide from it.
3. Do Be Present, Don’t be Distant from peoples’ feelings.
4. Exercise Your Ministry, Be an Influence where you can.
5. Do Anticipate, Don’t Dread.

We’ve been through tough times before and will see them again. The Philidelphia Flu of 1918 (as it is called here) essentially was the event that stopped WWI. In Philidelphia, the epicenter for this particular event, 10% of those infected died. 15,000 in this one city. My great grandfather passed from this disease in 1918 and he wasn’t even in that location.

Remember

This is not the end game, it’s merely a hurdle. Remember Y2K? Many thought the world was going to end! I pastored, and worked a Y2K project and survived just fine!

As my kids learned earthquake and fire drills in their school years, in my younger years, we learned to hide under our desk and stay away from windows in case a nuclear bomb went off. As if… Right!???!

As I’ve written before, I enjoy apocalyptic literature. I just finished George Stewarts, The Earth Abides. Through the years I’ve read and thought about the natural ending of life as we know it. Though the Bible’s Book of The Revelations of Jesus Christ we learn some hard lessons about the endtime. Perhaps it’s only natural to think about the ending. These other popular books were written during the Cold War season. Pat Frank wrote, Alas, Babylon. Nevil Shute, On the Beach.

Here’s how we need to live. Sensible. Not fearful. Life happens. The supply chain may break, or times get tough, but life is still there for us to get through.

I’m praying for everyone, everywhere, to be sensibly responsive. Live without fear. Respond with your ministry and faith, then let God’s Grace get us through this season.

Please feel free to join me as I attempt to write every day following a theme Making sense of life, one blog at a time. I will not disclose your email to anyone, anytime. You have my word on it!

 [sfm_newsletter id=’2′]