Love and Life in the time of COVID-19

           During this time of uncertainty and unparalleled division, I think it’s time to try to gain some perspective on the current state of the world. I haven’t done this in a while so I hope whoever takes the time to actually read this forgives my ramblings and lack of cohesion. I guess I have just felt compelled to reflect on the state of things as they exist currently.

As an almost 40-year-old man, I have seen many things occur during my lifetime: political shifts, ideological shifts, technological progress. But the past three months have been some of the most bizarre in my lifetime. March 13, 2020 was the last day I saw my students in a classroom. It was relevant because the boys basketball team was SUPPOSED to play in a sectional championship game. The NCAA basketball tournament was SUPPOSED to commence. Life, in all its splendor and sometimes triviality, was supposed to occur. But then it didn’t.

             By now, we know what happened. Priorities shifted. Schools transitioned to online learning, Sports stopped. Movies stopped. The world became at odds with an invisible virus. But I don’t think the virus is what the world, and particularly the United States, were upset with. I think that the issue was with empathy and entitlement. I say that because it has become decidedly obvious that there is a segment of society that was so enamored with their own way of life that they were willing to take up arms and protest in their various states. Some people never adhered to the advice of the CDC. Other people did.

                 I’m not trying to cast blame but ask questions. And TRY to get some answers. Why were some people so enraged by the stay at home order? I think that maybe it’s because for the sake of being comfortable. People hate being uncomfortable. People hate change. I think that is why the current state of racial strife is so high in this nation. Simple things like dinner/lunch routines, watching a game, going to a movie, getting a haircut are so interwoven into the DNA of Americana that some people believe that their identities are being fundamentally augmented.

The legitimacy of the virus has been at the forefront of the pandemic. Some people doubt that the pandemic is an actual pandemic at all. That the death rate isn’t really a problem. The numbers are skewed. Or that it is all a big government conspiracy to either discredit the president, cause a mass genocide of people of color, or purposely create a sense of fear for some other nefarious purpose. I can’t pretend to be a disease specialist. Or even understand the rationale of some of these people. But there have been over 100,000 deaths. That has happened. People are scared. And while my individual routine has been altered, I gladly pay that price to preserve my life and the lives of my family, friends, and neighbors.

               I’ll go back to the word “empathy” for a second because the lack of empathy is the real virus. Some people seem to have absolutely no regard for each other as sentient human beings. It transcends political preferences, socioeconomic status, ethnic background, and sexual orientation. Even though we, as a world, are more connected than ever before through various social media platforms, we are more disconnected and apathetic than ever before. Since everyone has a voice now that they cam share across multiple platforms, that creates egos that deal in absolutes. And that is very dangerous. There is no middle ground, No room for compromise or compassion. And as I have said this isn’t a one group is in the light and the other side are a pack of demidevils. There is a divide that exists currently and I feel a great swell of pity because it is going to require some difficult conversations to make it dissipate and I don’t know if we are mentally/emotionally prepared to do that.

           This pandemic has shown the best and worst of us. I have personally witnessed great acts of simple kindness: sending a birthday message at a distance, carrying food to those stranded, desperately trying to educate students despite a lack of resources, virtual church services, zoom meetings with old friends. But I have also seen race riots, marches on capital buildings, hate speech, indifference to hate speech, and attempting to create humor from hate speech.

           Where do we go from here? I think we have hit the proverbial “rock bottom”. When the nation is simultaneously getting sick and burning itself in the process, the only way to go is up. America is a great country. It is the land of opportunity. But it is also the land of racism, sexism, nepotism, and homophobia. Two things can be true. I think that unless people admit that America as a nation is fallible and there are underlying issues of inequity, entitlement, and indifference which are systemic than we will never reach our potential and that is truly unfortunate because wasted potential is one of the worst destinies for an individual or nation. The issue comes back to comfortability. It is going to require a series of very uncomfortable conversations to try to rebuild and reconstruct this nation. It’s time to become uncomfortable.