November 4
Good morning, everyone! As we here in the US continue to wonder exactly who will win our presidential election (a question that may not be settled for weeks if not months), I wanted to revisit one of the more absurd election predictions I heard even on election day itself: "The coronavirus will disappear on November 4 because it's just a fear tactic to control voters."
Well, here we are on November 4 in the midst of a massive upsurge of COVID-19 cases, and that virus isn't going anywhere. Because it's not a scam, and it's a real viral outbreak. This isn't politics. It's a real virus.
Even if I did think it was all a scam (which it isn't), it's obviously not going away no matter who wins the election. If Biden wins, then he'll probably institute national mandates to control the virus, because he believes this is a real problem. If the president wins re-election, the media will beat him up over COVID for as long as they can. Why would anyone think the election would do anything to change this?
Having said that, there is real scientific reasons to be cautiously optimistic, even while we grieve for all the lives being snuffed out because of this disease. The main relief that I see is that though the number of daily cases in the US has been on the rise since September 8, the number of daily deaths has not. Even though daily deaths lag behind the daily case numbers (by about two weeks), the steady numbers in daily deaths suggests that the fatality rate of the virus is going down. I'm not the only one who has noticed this. COVID is still dangerous and still more dangerous than the flu, but it's not nearly as bad as it was back in the spring. I thank God for this small mercy.
The second encouragement is that a lot of people are wearing masks, even here in rural Tennessee. I see masks at the grocery store. I saw lots of masks at the election. We know that masks will limit the spread of this virus, even though most of us really don't like these masks. As long as we wear masks in public, we're doing a small part to combat COVID-19.
Can we still argue over public policy? Of course. As the characteristics of the outbreak change, we can reasonably discuss changing public policy measures as we try to balance public safety from the virus with minimal damage to people's businesses and livelihoods. We can also complain about the way the outbreak and all these deaths are being used to political advantage by opportunistic politicians looking to increase their power base. But none of these discussions can begin by mocking or rejecting the basic reality of the COVID outbreak. We should not inflate or ignore the danger.
What does this have to do with creation? I've been wondering that even as I typed this. Speaking as a creationist, I think this outbreak is right in line with what I expect in this fallen, broken world. New diseases emerge, and that trend will continue because this fallen world continues to fall. God imposed disorder on his original design as judgment against human sin, and that disorder manifests in these sorts of diseases and pathologies. Over the last century, as the world opened up to unprecedented global travel, we've seen other frightening diseases emerge, like AIDS and ebola. COVID-19 follows in that trend, and frankly, even scarier diseases could be right around the corner.
What should we do then? Pray for God's mercy. Lament. Then find some small way to alleviate the suffering in this world. Find ways to love your neighbor. Show mercy, even as we beg God for his mercy. Don't let sensible precautions prevent you from boldly following Jesus.
Have you read my book? You should check that out too!
