Plague Journal (40): Shine on

You wonder about the hardening of many hearts. It happens to whole people in times of war. People grow more willing to erase moral boundaries in the interest of relieving their own suffering or hardship. For some, to shelter-in-place is an act of love, but for others the lockdown seems an unnecessary and costly imposition. 

I saw an article predicting a new spike in cases in the late Fall and going on through Winter, leading to a new lockdown. 

Our political leaders try to manipulate the public response to all this. To have us be comforted here, but angry there, and then again over here to be frightened. They want to be the ones pulling our emotional strings. It is how they get on, how they prosper. I take the greater prevalence of this sort of thing to be a sign that we're cracking as a nation. There's a kind of derangement in the air. Beneath all the conspiracy theories, the protests, the demonizing and fear-mongering, there is good old-fashioned sin. That means that these times, however different and unique they may seem, are much like all other times. And at such times the Christian's responsibility is the same as it always was.

1. Do not let your hearts become hardened. You are called to care for the least, the weakest, and even to join them in their weakness, in their leastness. Bless the poor, the broken, and the frightened, any way you can.
2. Fall on your knees and pray. 
3. Make sense. Be a voice of reason, of calm. Do not let mere politics degrade your testimony. The kingdom of God is near. Always.
4. Care for every heart you encounter.
5. Lift high the Lord your God in all things, in all circumstances. He reigns.
6. Fear not. In the midst of the general panic, in the midst of the quaking of nations, with war and rumors of war . . . have no fear. It is for such a time as this that each one of us has been called to shine our light. So shine.