We’re the only country in the world with the motto, “In God We Trust” plastered on our money, We are a uniquely spiritually based place. So I’m shocked at the flood of virus fear rocking the U.S.A. The panic has exposed, like the Emporer in the fairy tale strutting about in his birthday suit, that for many, our faith has rested not on God, but on two powerless gods: Science and Government.
I’m the wife of a scientist; my husband is a doctor, as are two of my children. I’ve also run for political office, worked on local political campaigns, and investigate candidates before I vote for them. I admire and respect our scientists and politicians for their work. But in this crisis, they will not save us.
People can see that. There’s no way out. There’s no epidemiological chart that will protect anyone 100%. For all the explanations, there are some people dying that ‘don’t meet the criteria.’ Panic!
We set ourselves up for this. We built special schools for our kids called “STEM” schools, because Science (along with math and technology) is the Most Important subject. We love facts. Yet science cannot, for as much as it tries, tell us where we came from, what our life’s meaning is, or predict the future. I’m a Floridian. I’ve lived through hundreds of Spaghetti models of hurricanes’ track. Meteorologists can tell you a hurricane is coming, but not where it will land exactly or how catastrophic the devastation will be. Ask thousands of cancer survivors about their supposed ‘life expectancy.’
As for the power of our country’s elected leaders to help us in this crisis: in general, I grew up thinking Democrats thought they could do more, and Republicans expected to do less. But in this event, both Democrats and Republicans are falling over each other to Help. Two weeks ago our Republican sheriff began posting “closed signs” at every beach entrance and “non-essential” business. This to ‘slow the spread.’ The President’s Virus Team, a group of dedicated doctors and politicians (‘politics makes strange bedfellows’!) informs and entertains each evening on the television regarding their Plans For Us. Unfortunately, for all the testing, shut downs, masks, etc., they cannot control the virus. If the truth is told, much of what is stated is pure conjecture. A guess.
They’re not telling us the truth: only God is in control.
“You can’t handle the truth!” the famous quote from the military film, “A Few Good Men” indicts most of us. It’s a hard pill to swallow for many in the United States, because with our brilliant scientists and the American Way, God has been on the back burner or off the stove completely.
We now have time in our viral induced seclusion to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask the hard questions about what I believe my life is all about.
Put your trust in God.
Psychoanalyst Viktor Frankl, survivor of the Nazi concentration camps that killed over 3 million, wrote,
“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.”
We can choose faith in God. I keep hoping to hear, during the televised Virus Team meetings in our capital, some acknowledgment by our leaders, several of whom are people of faith, that our country has a need for deliverance that can only be met by God. I did hear the word ‘miracle’ used once or twice, but that is not near the credit God deserves. Medical treatments, lower than expected mortality rates or the coveted vaccine will come, but will the team, or we as individuals, give credit to God, the source of all healing and good?
In a favorite episode of the comedy “Dick Van Dyke Show”, Laura and neighbor Millie have spent an overnight petrified because they thought they heard robbers in the house. To drown out their terror, they blast the TV and radio, and turn on all the lights. After hearing one more crash, they dash out to the garage. Millie begins screaming hysterically. Then, shockingly, Laura slaps Millie in the face.
“Pull yourself together!” Laura cries.
Millie immediately stops.
During the show, we the viewers were shown some of the harmless events that got translated into high anxiety. We know the night is not as scary as Laura and Millie’s experience. We’re laughing, because their fear was all nonsense.
This virus is no joke. But it is something we can trust God with. And must, if we want to be true to what we say we believe, and the very money we print.
That slap is what we all need right now.
Put our trust in God. This is our opportunity to see him provide for us.
“This I declare about the LORD. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.” Psalm 91: 2-3
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