He loved to travel. Crammed in the back seat of a car without air conditioning during the heat of summer, my two brothers and I weren't so keen. The tendency for all three of us to be car sick didn't help as he drove 500-600 miles a day to his childhood home of Texas, Mom's birthplace in South Dakota, and a variety of places in between.
Dad was the ultimate sightseer, absorbing the scenery along the way. We visited the Grand Canyon before it became crowded, went to Disneyland when it was newly opened, witnessed Old Faithful at Yellowstone, drove across the desert of Arizona and were tourists in a myriad of other places. When we weren't housed by relatives, we stayed in cottage motels with a kitchenette where my mother could prepare an evening supper and breakfast the next morning before we once again headed out.
My father's dream was to retire, purchase a travel trailer--he had his eye on an Airstream--and go places. Mom and Dad took only one trip after he retired. As my mother shared the driving load, Dad realized something serious was taking place, that her capabilities had become compromised..
Mom was in her middle 60's when an invisible, insidious monster took over her body and her mind. Its name was Alzheimer's.
The family was all gathered together, probably after a get-together of some kind. Dad was explaining what the doctors had reported. They thought she might have Parkinson's, and she had been given some medications. "Whatever happened to God?" I asked. Mom's head whipped and, with steely, cold eyes she responded, "Yeah. Whatever happened to God?" It was apparent she felt He had failed her.
The world is in the midst of a pandemic, another type of unseen, dangerous predator. This one has taken the form of a lethal virus, named COVID-19. Everything about it is new and unknown. It has rightfully earned the moniker of novel virus. Around the world, this beast has torn through like a tornado, leaving death in its wake. At the same time many are left untouched and unscathed.
The news and internet post daily counts of those who have contracted it and those who have died from it. With 24 hours a day, 7 days a week media available, it is like the nightly news from the Vietnam era on steroids.
How-tos abound--There is no end of precautionary measures to take in order to avoid exposure and prevent becoming one of those in the daily count. "Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with hot, soapy water; do not touch your face with your hands; use hand sanitizer after touching anything you do not know is clean. Practice social distancing; stay at least 6' away from people other than your immediate family; wear a mask. Disinfect anything and everything."
The world waits in anticipation of either a cure-all for those already infected or a vaccine, protection against future outbreaks.
If those of faith and those who are without faith were placed in a line-up you could tell no difference between the two. All are practicing the same methods of prevention with the same measure of behavior---including me with my face mask.
As a person of faith I am in the world but not of the world, but where is there any evidence of any difference? Whatever happened to God? How does He want me to live with and deal with the threat of COVID-19? It is a question I, as a believer, need to ask myself.
"Whatever happened to God?," He reminded me.
This much I know: I know that in the same way I cannot save myself spiritually, I cannot save myself physically. I can do all the "right" things, all the things "they" say I should do to avoid contracting this virus and yet, if it is to be part of my walk, there is nothing I can do to change it.
Whatever happened to God? He has gone nowhere. Nothing is separate from Him, and all of creation serves His purpose. Just because He doesn't work in the way we think He should does not mean He has abandoned us.
And I hear Him saying to His church, "Whatever happened to Me? What have YOU done with me? Seek me, not the world--and stop viewing me as an afterthought."
Now when these things begin to take place,
stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.
Luke 21:28
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