Coronavirus, Interconnectivity, & Vulnerability
Why we should turn outward when everyone else is turning inward.
It’s a Sunday night and I’m taking my dog for a long walk around the park by our house because it’s inevitably about to rain. The air is heavy with humidity and the clouds are dangerously dark with a little lightning here and there. The streets are uncharacteristically empty and as I pass the apartment complexes on my left, the windows are illuminated with the artificial blue glow of television screens and cell phones, reminding me that the world, or at least my little piece of it, is glued to the news, looking for answers to understand the coronavirus pandemic.
For many of us, the virus has been a strange pause. No going to work, to school, to events. It has forced us to stop and recognize how we live, who we are, and where we’re going, something most people in this hemisphere often tend to ignore in an attempt to “produce” or “succeed”. It’s like God has stopped the chaos and asked us to sit at His feet and stay awhile. For others working in the medical field, this is a time of great exhaustion and precaution, not knowing if your next patient might test positive for COVID-19. The fear of when “the curve” will explode into full overdrive keeps us on edge, not knowing when this will all be over and how many more will die.
“It has forced us to stop and recognize how we live... something that most people in this hemisphere often tend to ignore in an attempt to ‘produce’ or ‘succeed’.”
This historic pandemic will expose the great number of vulnerabilities in our communities. We’re recognizing there are more questions than answers. Who will provide for the waiter who has to go home with no paycheck because the restaurant has closed? While school is canceled, who will take care of the kids while their single mother goes to work? When free lunch isn’t provided for several weeks, how will dependent families feed hungry kids, especially as the days continue to march on? Will my job be secure when there are no deliveries to be made? Where do the homeless go when the shelters are a health risk for community spread?
When regular systems and rhythms are disrupted, we, as followers of Jesus, must ask ourselves what in the world we are doing for our vulnerable brothers and sisters, not just down the street but around the globe. It’s nice to see that schools, organizations, churches, even government officials are stepping in to try and mitigate the impact of this disruption by providing food and supplies, but we cannot be blind to the fact that the impact of this disruption will be felt for months, if not years, to come for families throughout our society who live on the margins.
“When regular systems and rhythms are disrupted, we, as followers of Jesus, must ask ourselves what in the world we are doing for our vulnerable brothers and sisters.”
That being said, it’s a shame that it took a pandemic for us to recognize how essentially interconnected we are as humans, breathing the same air, walking the same earth and how for some, this will finally be an awakening to the vulnerabilities around us that can no longer be ignored (not by disciples of Jesus anyway). Remember Acts 17: 24-28
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
For better or worse, we’re in this together. We are interconnected as brothers and sisters, offspring, a family of the same Father, who holds all things together. We really cannot hide in our church buildings or behind our ministries anymore; we must truly know, love, and support each other, especially the vulnerable in our communities.
It all starts with relationship. Do we really know Jesus and allow Him to disciple us with His truth and model our lives after His? Are we discipling and loving those around us, advocating for the vulnerable? Do we even know the vulnerable? If we don’t know those in our communities, when pandemics happen and suddenly the people of God want to help, our efforts will often be seen as dignity stripping, paternalistic god-complexes, swooping in to try and save the day.
What can you do? Be who God is commanding you to be. Be what you were made to be, a descendent of Jesus; that guy who fought for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. The Father of Creation has chosen for you to walk this Earth, right now, today (pandemic and all), for His Kingdom and so that others might know Him. So look up, dear child of God, from the blue screen of the television, from the breaking news, from your cell phone and ask yourself why the Great Originator “marked out your appointed time” at this point in human history.
Looking for ways to help during the pandemic? See our Write Your Neighbor initiative.
Lindsay is a community advocate in Dallas, Texas and is working to equip underserved communities to take back their streets from crime and violence. She has an amazing husband named Chino who she met doing ministry in Costa Rica and a dog named Che.