As always with my blog, these are just my ramblings, have to empty my racing brain somehow. Thought I would share. Please take no offence, thoughts welcome.
It is mid March and I have just come back from a beautiful Spring walk with my dog. The sky is picture perfect blue, barely a cloud in sight. There begins to be a warmth to the sun, which is an oh so welcome sight after all the rain we have had over the Winter. The birds are singing and making busy, daffodils are blooming, there is a show of pink and white blossom on the trees and the buds declare the promise of new life. Everything is well with the world – or so it appears.
Then you come back inside and turn on the TV, the news shouts inconceivable facts at you. Corona virus – Covid 19. Countries in lockdown – no-one allowed in or out. People quarantined in their homes whether they are ill or not. People dying around the globe. The last few weeks have been filled with doom and gloom and now it is here! We are faced with a situation likened to that of wartime. Shops have sold out of food, toilet rolls and pretty much every tin and packet you can think of. People are in panic and no-one knows what will happen next!
I must admit that over the weekend I allowed the fear and panic to grip me. I have an underlying condition, what if I catch it and die? I don’t want to die. I’m too young to die, I have too much living left to do. The thoughts process around my mind causing high levels of anxiety and stress. I know this is not good for my immune system, so I try to calm my racing brain. I am trying to keep informed but not to binge watch the news. I feel it is guesswork in the most part. They don’t know the answers any more than we do, they can just give us the best and worst case scenarios. They reckon 80% of people will catch the virus at some point, as it is new and no-one has any immunity to it. Even if they spread out the peak so as not to overwhelm the NHS, the virus seems to be here to stay. Presumably then, if we don’t catch it now, we will catch it sometime. They are just buying time.
Apparently the outbreak began in China and tens of thousands have contracted it there, despite locking down the areas of the outbreak. Everyone, everywhere is potentially at risk. People have so many questions and I think this is largely because we have no control. We are limited in what we can do = other than washing hands and self isolating if we have symptoms. But, the hard thing is no-one has control. It is a disease and it will do what it will do. Man may be clever enough to put himself on the moon, and his technology is such that he can use a computer model to predict how the virus may spread, but we have never found a cure for the common cold (another type of corona virus). The only treatment for this virus appears to be to manage and relieve the symptoms then the body has to do the rest of the work in fighting the virus off.
Where or how did the virus start?
Well common theories suggest in China and possibly spreading from someone eating an infected animal – possibly a bat! I imagine there are a whole host of conspiracy theories out there (or is that just me!) Maybe the virus escaped from the laboratory somewhere, an experiment gone wrong. I guess we may never truly know.
My current theory (for what it is worth), is that this is all part of God’s master plan. Now bear with me and let me explain. No, God is not evil, so maybe the forces of evil brought it about but God could be allowing it to continue, to run it’s course so to speak in order to serve his purposes. Who knows for sure, only God can say. Certainly in the natural world nothing has changed. Spring has arrived, listen to the birds making busy with their nests and getting ready to mate and have their young. For us, time is standing still, but not so for them.
I feel like we are suspended in some alternative reality. One day we are asked to keep ourselves more distant from each other ‘social distancing’, 2 metres apart. Within a week the order has come out to close all schools (except for key worker’s children), and now all cafes, restaurants, bars, leisure centres and places that people congregate will also close – until further notice. Nothing to look forward to, no work for many, no holiday, sport cancelled…..Life, as we know it, is on hold.
Plagues and flus of various kinds have always happened, since Biblical times. During the Bubonic Plague, people were quarantined much like today (during this time Sir Issac Newton discovered gravity). It is just that it is so far from our experience, that it is surreal and impossible to fully comprehend.
Of course, the past year have shown many troubles for many people – wild fires in Australia devastating huge swathes of land and forests. Early this year we had more monumental flooding here in parts of the UK, destroying people’s homes and livelihoods. Now we have Covid 19 – a virus set to keep us imprisoned in our homes largely, for who knows how long.
The end times are foretold in the Bible. Revelation – the last book of the Bible – is written by John and it’s theme is the end of times and the coming of a new heaven and a new Earth. It is full of rich imagery and symbolism and mentions seven plagues (Revelation15). It puts the blame firmly at Man’s door. Our sins, our selfishness is laid bare.
“Hurt not the Earth, neither the sea, nor the trees.” (Revelation 7:3)
Perhaps this time we are living through is God’s chance to redress the balance before it is too late – and teach us a few things in the process. We have too many people, too much pollution, travel by cars and aeroplanes is destroying our world. The Poles and the oceans are full of our plastic, our rubbish. The world is full of selfish people who prioritise individualism and greed (there is also a lot of good people too!) We dont care much for each other and God is saying ‘enough is enough’ ‘no more’ and something has to make you change.
Through this experience we will all learn many lessons (more on this next time). The Earth and planet has already shown marvellous signs of recovery. Satellite pictures clearly show how dramatically pollution has reduced in 3 short months. Maybe, just maybe, when we get through this, things will change. Let us hope they don’t just go back to how they were before.
Never had we had a better chance to make a better future – for our planet and for everyone!
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