The Epidemiology of Grace
It’s a weird time. We all know that, but I think it’s important to periodically name that reality. Schools have closed down for weeks on end. Theaters are closing. Restaurants are only allowing to-go orders. Every sports league has blown the whistle on their respective seasons. It is a March with a madness unlike any that we have ever experienced.
That is an important thing for us to remember: None of us have ever experienced anything like this. We are all in unchartered territory. None of us know what the next few weeks or months is going to hold. We could start seeing daylight in April or this could be a long haul. It is a strange, limbo-like state to be in.
Which is exactly why we need to extend grace to each other. Be kind. Nobody knew the term “social distancing” two weeks ago. Now it is our banner and creed. And, listen, we do need to do everything we can flatten the curve. We need to listen to our medical experts so that we do not let this thing spread and endanger our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. But we can encourage others to do that without shaming, guilting, or snarking other people.
(And this is probably a completely different blog entry itself but enough with the Generation Wars. Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, this is not a competition. No one is “winning” this pandemic. We all got our good people and our bad. Even the Greatest Generation that fought in wars had segregation and Japanese internment camps. We all got our baggage and we’re all in this together. End of mini-rant.)
I understand the snarky undercurrent. People are scared. People are irritated. People are uncertain. Our social institutions whether they be church or school or places of work have had to go dim or dark for a little while. All of which is why it is so important that we try to look out for each other. That we make our interactions all the more full of grace, patience, and understanding. Those qualities are contagious and if we’re going to spend our days trying to spread one virus we might as well put our focus on spreading something that will help us well beyond when this weird time is over.
Let’s look out for each other. Let’s find ways to spread grace. Let’s find ways that we connect even if we’re physically apart. It’s a weird and scary time, but if we work at it, I think there is still a lot of good can be made of a less than ideal situation.
I believe that most of us experience an internal tug-of-war between the past and the future. In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis’ titular demon supervisor advises his underling Wormwood that one of best ways to keep a human from doing good is to keep them ping-ponging between those two times that are not the present. One keeps trying to recapture or reach towards moments that are mist. It can keep a person from doing something.
The quote above resonates with me because it harnesses the past and unfinished future into a catalyst that animates our present. We remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus because it means something today and compels us to presently work for the Good that is already here, but also not yet. We remember the hope and pain of the past to do something that help us take some sort of step each and every day. We realize that the hope which exists within the gospel story is not yet fully realized. Many people are still being left behind and forgotten. The realization, as the theologian Metz states, puts pressure and questions on the present.