Lessons in the covid crisis
When faced with a crisis so often people use the language of warfare. We hear of people ‘‘battling’’ cancer, ‘‘fighting’’ poverty, and ‘‘declaring war’’ on gang culture. The same is true with the coronavirus crisis – so much of the talk is about an invisible ‘‘enemy’’ that must be ‘‘defeated’’.
This is perfectly understandable. The one thing that always unites countries, arouses patriotic fervour, and motivates people to make great sacrifices is the threat of an external foe that must be conquered.
It surprises us therefore to hear the odd few, who, when confronted with a crisis, speak instead about what it might be ‘‘teaching’’ them.
The cricketer Martin Crowe described his cancer not as a battle he was fighting, but as something he could learn from – and how deeply grateful he was to have had the opportunity to grow and change as a result.
The Chinese word for ‘‘crisis’’ is comprised of two characters – one representing danger and the other opportunity. As a result they have a proverb, ‘‘A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind’’.
There is certainly great danger in this crisis we would be foolish to ignore, but there is also great opportunity to learn, grow, and change.
Someone recently referred me to a post reputedly from Bill Gates titled, ‘‘What is the coronavirus really teaching us?’’ Among the 14 points he identifies two stand out for me – we are all equal and we are all connected.
The Bible teaches us that God is not a respecter of persons. This doesn’t mean God doesn’t respect people for who they are – rather, that God doesn’t treat people differently on account of who they are. This is true of the coronavirus.
Although some are more vulnerable than others and some better placed to avoid infection than others, the virus doesn’t deliberately target some and exempt others. Like God, this virus has no respect for our status. Our skin colour isn’t a barrier against being infected nor is our bank balance, fame, or anything else about us.
The truth is that we are all equal before God and before viruses, and so what this teaches us is that this is how we should be toward one another. For us to treat some people preferentially and others dismissively on account of their external markers of status is to live in contradiction to both who God is and the world of reality God has created.
The Bible also teaches us that we are all connected and therefore that the fate of one impacts upon us all. What this means is that we are all bound up together in the same reality.
One of the great myths this crisis is currently exploding is the idea that we are solitary self-made individuals. But what this virus is teaching us is that the health and economic well-being of any individual is connected to and dependent upon the health and economic well-being of us all.
In other words what this virus is teaching us is that we, as individuals, can only be healthy, prosperous, and secure if all the people we are connected to and dependent upon are also healthy, prosperous, and secure.
We never exist and function as solitary self-made individuals – only in community with others. The truth is we are deeply and indelibly dependent upon and connected to an entire network of people.
Think of the products we consume – where they come from, and how they get to us. Think also of the language and culture within which we formulate our thoughts and express ourselves; the literature, music, and artistic beauty that inspires our spirits; the people of action who have forged the political, economic, and technological systems that determine the kind of world we inhabit; and the philosophers, scientists, and spiritual teachers who have given us the knowledge that shapes the way we think, the convictions we hold, and the values we cherish. This network of people that has shaped us and upon whom we depend for our well-being actually comprises all humanity – a world of knowledge and endeavour that connects all people and creation.
This is what this present crisis is teaching us if we are willing to learn. As the Bible expresses it, ‘‘We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.’’
God doesn’t treat people differently on account of who they are. This is true of the coronavirus.