The movie Justice League was on last night and I found this ending quote particularly relevant for today's times:
"Darkness, the truest darkness, is not the absence of light. It is the conviction that the light will never return. But the light always returns, to show us things familiar. Home, family, and things entirely new, or long overlooked. It shows us new possibilities and challenges us to pursue them. This time, the light shone on the heroes, coming out of the shadows to tell us we won’t be alone again. Our darkness was deep and seemed to swallow all hope. But these heroes were here the whole time, to remind us that hope is real, that you can see it. All you have to do is look, up in the sky."
Today I nearly bawled at the season finale of The Good Doctor, tried to clean up my office but only succeeded in making it look worse, and have dealt with reading posts over and over on social media complaining that “we’re losing our freedoms!”
At least two pastors that I can think of in the US held services on Sunday in deliberate defiance of an order prohibiting large gatherings. They seem to think that this is a situation where “we must obey God rather than man!”
I’m sorry, but I think that is absolute hogwash. I got into a discussion with someone online about this very subject today, and earlier, when I had pointed out to someone else that people weren’t self-quaranting like they should, the answer I got was, for free people, that’s their choice.
So it’s their choice to possibly put themselves and others at risk?
It’s perfectly okay, in the name of “not losing our freedoms” to go out and mingle with people who could have this virus and not know it?
It’s perfectly okay to run the risk of getting sick, and even worse, to run the risk of making others sick, possibly members of your own family?
This is the hill you’re going to die on, the fear of losing your freedom to worship in a church building on Sundays?
If the government had forbidden any sort of worship gathering, then I would have reason to worry. But online, virtual gatherings are not against the law. They are not.
I want to sit here, and I want to cry, I want to scream at the absolute, total stupidity of people who are perfectly willing to put their own selfish desires over a known public health risk.
And those of you that tell me that it’s no worse than the flu and that we never freaked out like this when the flu hit, or swine flu hit, or bird flu hit, this is a novel virus. It is a new virus, one we do not have experience with, one we do not have a vaccine for, and one that especially elderly and chronically ill people can become seriously ill from, if not die from.
There are medical workers on the front lines. There are not enough masks, gowns, or other PPE for them. There are not enough ventilators to help people breathe. Doctors in Italy have had to make the choice of who lives and who dies. Doctors have probably already made those choices here in the US.
There are other essential workers out there, daily, putting their lives on the line so that we can have food to eat and stuff to drink, so that babies can get formula and diapers, and yes, so that we can get that precious commodity known as toilet paper.
Are you so willing to put your selfish desire to go where you want, with whom you want, and when you want that you are willing to put yourself and other people at risk?
If so, I hope you think it’s worth the price if you get ill and have to be put in the hospital on a ventilator.
Okay, let’s all take a deep breath:
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
No comments:
Post a Comment