It is hard to believe it has been 5 years since Covid
brought the world to its knees. On March 21, 2020 my wife and I invited a group
of our neighbors to bring their lawn chairs and meet in our driveway. Ten of us showed up and positioned our chairs
6 feet apart. A few had met, but most
did not know each other. Our
neighborhood was typical of most suburbs. We passed each other coming and going
to work, then disappeared into our garages.
We occasionally saw each other walking our dogs, but we rarely spoke. Faces
might be familiar, but we didn’t know each other’s names. But that Saturday was
different. Under the ominous cloud of
the Coronavirus, our neighbors were hungry to meet each other, to talk and to
share.
The group included a widow in her 70s, two young couples in
their 20s, a couple in their 30s recently moved from Philadelphia and a couple
in their late 40s, recently married and adjusting to a blended family. My wife and I had been married more than 50
years. The gathering was not somber. There was much laughter. One couple
brought gifts of toilet paper with a card: “Just a little something to show
that we got your back.” But there was a
serious undercurrent, not knowing what comes next. We each introduced ourselves
and shared how the COVID crisis was affecting us and our families. At the end,
I led the group in prayer.
Five years later many who assembled that day have become
like family. The two couples in their
20s are now in their 30s. One couple has given birth to 2 bright boys. The other had a beautiful daighter. The teenagers who were home have grown up,
gone off to college and are finding their way.
We learned some lessons during Covid. We discovered that the
place to which we can turn in a crisis is to God and to one another. We
discovered that more than big government, more than money, we need people. We
need our families. We need our neighbors,
and we need God. Instead of seeing a
society implode in anger and frustration and chaos, we watched people step up
to stand in the gap. We looked for ways
to encourage one another, to support each other. Everyone wanted to help.
Jesus taught us this amazing truth about human nature
centuries ago when an arrogant young lawyer asked him, “Who is my
neighbor?” He replied by telling the
story of the Good Samaritan. Across the ages in every culture where the message
of Christ has been told, that story has enabled people to overcome and
withstand the most severe catastrophes. Instead
of “passing by on the other side,” instead of just thinking about our own
interests and concerns, we must stop and help somebody for whom we can make a
difference.
One of my neighbors reminded me that often Jesus stopped to
help just one. That’s what we needed to do 5 years ago. That is what we need to do today. That is
what we each can do in these uncertain times, like the Good Samaritan. (Luke
10:25-37).
Bill's book, Bold Springs, is Free as an eBook on Amazon March 18-19. Chosen best Christian Historical Fiction by Reader's Favorite in 2022.
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