Today I was saddened as I drove
past two churches in my community that seem to have decided to go ahead and
meet in person, as evidenced by the number of cars in the parking lots. I have friends in both congregations, and I know they are very
committed to doing good in the world in God's name, but it appears that they
are meeting the letter of the law but not the spirit of what is good for
others. Yes, the Governor's office relaxed the restrictions of the freeze to include allowing
faith organizations to meet in groups of 25. But just because you can, doesn't
mean you should. The COVID numbers in Oregon are still sharply rising, and
medical professionals are pleading with people to NOT meet with people who are
not members of their immediate household, especially indoors.
On Wednesday, Providence Portland
reported 82 COVID patients admitted to its hospital, with another 40 at
Providence St. Vincent. According to an article in The Oregonian, both
Providence hospitals in Portland, along with those in Milwaukie, Oregon City, and
Newberg, will be drastically reducing surgeries, providing only "
'emergent and urgent surgery,' procedures 'which cannot be deferred for 4-6
weeks without significant risk to life of limb,' and urgent vascular, cardiac and
cancer surgeries." (Oregonian/OregonLive, Dec. 2, 2020).
So the increasing COVID hospitalizations are affecting not only those patients
and their loved ones, but also anyone who might find themselves in need of
other types of surgeries, such as joint replacement, spinal surgery, etc.
I deeply understand the pull of
people of faith gathering together, for fellowship and worship. The faith group
of which I am a part has not met together for the better part of nine months
now, instead seeing each other each week on Zoom. And while we are grateful for
the technology, the screen does not come close to taking the place of sitting
next to someone, sharing a hug, singing as a group, bowing in corporate
silence, sharing a meal. I cannot speak to the tenets of other faith groups,
but people of faith who follow Jesus have been given the example of serving
others before serving self. And when we put our own group's desires before the
needs of others, it is time to step back and ask if we are truly following what
we say we believe.
Everyone - EVERYONE - has been affected by this pandemic. It is hard. It is hard for children and teachers to not be at school. It is hard to work remotely. It is hard for adults to not go to the home of their parents, and for children to not see their grandparents. It is hard to shift a sit-down restaurant to take-out only. It is hard to not travel to see loved ones. It is hard to not attend the funeral of a dear one who has passed. It is hard to have a private marriage ceremony instead of a wedding with friends and family in attendance. And on, and on, and on.
It is hard to not engage in all the activities we used to do without a second thought, and we long to return to some semblance of normal. But before that can happen, this horrible, virulent virus that has the world in its grip has to be quelled. It appears that there is a vaccine on the horizon, and health experts are working right now on the most effective and efficient way to distribute the doses, beginning with healthcare and other frontline workers. Realistically, it will take many months for enough people to be vaccinated to start to achieve herd immunity. And in the meantime, right now, more and more people are getting infected each day - 308 additional cases in Washington County yesterday alone (The COVID Tracking Project, Dec. 6, 2020). Over 282,000 have died in our nation and almost 15,000,000 have been infected (ibid), and we are just starting to get an idea of some of the lasting long-term effects on those who survive. And the medical professionals are begging us to do three very simple things: stay home as much as possible, wear a mask whenever leaving home, and do not gather in groups larger than six, from no more than two households. Doing these things will slow down the spread of the virus. Doing these things will lessen the burden on hospital workers. Doing these things will help others.
Just because it is legal for people of faith to gather in groups of 25 indoors, doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Not when exercising an abundance of caution could make things better for so many others. For those of us who follow Jesus, the directive is clear: Love God, and love people. All the other laws are fulfilled through these. (Matt. 22:37-40).
Stop being selfish, and show love for others by not insisting on your rights, but rather setting aside your rights so that others do not get sick.
