PART 3

Same disclaimer: I don’t claim that any of the thoughts below are well thought out, complete or exhaustive. What follows is just me putting some words to some thoughts that my brain has seemed to want to hold onto more than other thoughts, so the point of these words is remembering not necessarily analyzing. Does that make sense? In other words, if you don’t like something or disagree with something or think I wasn’t fair or thorough enough with something that you think needs more explanation that’s fine…maybe you should think more about it and write your own post, I’ll read it, I promise. So here we go:

3. Some Things Never Change,
but Definitely Should

This post will be less than thorough and really it’s just a lot of questions and sarcastic suggestions before I get to the next, much more serious post, “Stuff I am sick of during the pandemic.” Here I am going to list a few things that you can count on, like the sun rising, and appear to be as unchangeable as death and taxes. But in my unqualified, but passionate opinion, the pandemic has shown that they should change immediately and forever!

A. Make Everything about Politics

Here are my questions: What exactly are you trying to accomplish in trying to drag every conversation into a political sphere where you can voice your views? Does it make you happier to make everything a political issue? Does it give you some satisfaction to post passive aggressive memes about the other party? Do you think constantly voicing your strongly held political views is going to accomplish something? Could you stop? Not like I am asking you to stop (actually I guess I kind of am), but I mean do you have other things to talk about? Could you take a break or is it really all you think about? I promise we all know at this point where you stand on those issues and even if you haven’t stated it explicitly (which is highly unlikely) we definitely could have assumed. I get it. So much of this Covid-19 era feels like it is politically driven, and I also feel like every politician has a different agenda for something they are trying to accomplish that has little or nothing to do with the actual pandemic. And that sucks. We all agree it sucks. But maybe try having a conversation about your kids or the sermon you heard on Sunday or a movie or coffee or music or books or the good ole’ days when we could do stuff or literally anything else. And maybe instead of posting that CNN or Fox News article or that fear-creating clickbait from some other “news” source, maybe try sharing a picture of a cute little puppy or a Bible verse or a sermon or a meme from the Tiger King or literally anything else. Speaking of social media that is something else that will never change but definitely should…

B. Make Everything Known on Social Media

How do you spell “social media” in the Coronavirus Era? N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y-E-V-I-L! But with an added emphasis on the last four letters though. I am equally sick of and thankful for social media. Our church has been able to stay connected through mediums like YouTube and Facebook, both on Sundays and throughout the week. Zoom has provided a way for our small groups to keep gathering and for discipleship to continue even with mandated shelter-in-place orders and strict social distancing in place. And honestly, I am not really sure what we would have done otherwise. So, I am not wanting to nag on social media at all, but I think we could all agree (I hope) that nobody needs to share everything in such a public way. Perhaps a way that this could change moving forward is a little more thought put into our decision making. Decide what you are trying to communicate and pick one thing that communicates that and share it. For example, let’s say you want to communicate with the world this thought: “I would like everyone to know that I am upset about the governor’s decision to extend the shelter-in-place.” (Something many of us can relate to and perhaps an important thing for you to note publicly.) Here are the steps I am suggesting for accomplishing this: find an article (or meme or write something yourself) that clearly communicates your feelings, enter a strongly worded (but respectful) caption, click share, and then check that off the to-do list for the day. And then we can all just apply that same general principle to all of our social media participation. What do you think? Impossible? Probably. But it was worth a shot…

C. Make Everything about You

Lately, when I’m having a hard day I like to picture something that immediately makes me feel so much better and I thought I would share it with you: I like to imagine someone who found themselves in a panic a couple months ago and barged their way into Costco and filled two shopping carts overflowing with toilet paper. Then I like to picture that same person feeling absolutely ridiculous passing by shelves at Target two months later and noticing that those shelves are filled with toilet paper. And finally, I like to picture that person turning a little red and shaking their head with embarrassment knowing that their garage is filled with more toilet paper than they could ever need for the next several months! Thinking about that makes me chuckle a little bit. Now, I use the toilet paper example for two reasons: First, I don’t understand it. I have no idea why all those people thought the deadly spread of an infectious virus was cause for buying a whole bunch of toilet paper, but I definitely find it silly and hilarious! Secondly, and more importantly, it helps illustrate my next point in a light-hearted way. The pandemic shined the spotlight on a part of humanity that is always there, unchanging, but often lurks in the shadows unnoticed. Human beings are tragically, but unmistakably selfish. We will find a way to justify taking more than we need in order to make ourselves more comfortable because we believe we deserve it even if it means others will go without. Toilet paper is comical, but hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and other helpful supplies or even beans and rice and water, and other basic necessities are not funny at all. And I hope the caricature of the idiot who punched a mother in the face over some toilet paper hangs with us a little bit and perhaps even helps us to do a little self-examination. We are all selfish in different ways, I think we already know that, but sometimes we are reminded just how low our selfishness can take us…This global crisis has been our most recent reminder. Let’s not miss this unprecedented time to repent of our selfishness and love our neighbor a little more than when all of this chaos began.