Hello,
There are many inconveniences and frustrations that have been part of life with the social distancing restrictions that have been put into place…no dinner with friends and neighbors, no playing hoops with a bunch of buddies, no hugging those who mean the world to us, mandatory wearing masks that fog up one’s glasses when going to the grocery store. Multitude are the things that make us tired of dealing with this unfriendly and uninvited guest in our life, this voracious virus.
But there is one thing that has come with social distancing that is far greater than an inconvenience or frustration, and that is not being able to be in the same room with a loved one that is dying….dying from this virus, or dying from the “normal” thefts of life. Fortunately, I have not personally had to deal with this unthinkably painful consequence of social distancing. Maybe not for everyone and everywhere has this gruesome component of social distancing been enforced, but it has been enforced in this area of the country that I live.
I have heard many times the deep thankfulness given to nurses who do what they are not able to do, hold a dying loved one’s hand when life is slipping through their hands. Nurses who say the things that loved ones wish they could say. Nurses who bring their cell phones to bedsides and make a zoom connection with loved ones as the moments of life dwindle down. Nurses who wipe the foreheads with a cool cloth. Nurses who make sure that people they have never met do not die alone. I have heard words of thanks for the love and care of nurses, but even amid the thankfulness there is a huge hole in people’s hearts for not being able to be there with their loved one when they died.
I don’t write of this painful part of these days in opposition to this painful separation at death. Is it necessary? I don’t know. I do know that the battle against this virus has made it abundantly clear how powerless we really are, and when one is engaged in such a lopsided battle I find myself listening to the counsel of those whose knowledge might be able to find the Achilles heel of this virus. Thus I abide by the social distancing they call for, even the most painful ones.
The reason that I write of this is the pain of social distancing has helped me see the depth of love that God has for me in the sending of his Son, Jesus, to be with me in this world of intensive care in which I live. God’s love for me is so great that he simply cannot and will not stand afar from me, even at the risk of his own suffering and death. He will let nothing stop him from being there, holding my hand, wiping my brow, whispering love in my ear when I am holding on to life for all that I am worth, and even on that day when I can hold on no longer. God’s love for me, and for you, is so great that he violently and zealously breaks all social distancing rules.
Now, I am not in any way suggesting that you or I should batter-ram our way through the social distancing barriers that have been put into place. And the reason that we should not do so, is because we cannot do what God can do. When we break social distancing regulations, we add to the power of the virus and increase, at least the likelihood, of further death. When God broke the social distancing regulations, he took away the power of sin and evil, and brought everlasting life.
There are many who have a hard time assimilating the Christian faith into their lives because the Christian faith proclaims that there is a God who so loves the world that he should send his only Son into the world, so that all who believe in him might have eternal life. In these times of imposed social distancing, I find it not so unbelievable that if human hearts experience a rending that is beyond their grief, but also beyond their power to overcome….that God, who has shown that God experiences this same depth of grief and has the power overcome this social distancing, does indeed do what we cannot do, breaks the barriers that stand between God and us, and overcomes and overwhelms the things that have thrown those barriers up.
In these times the incarnation, that is God coming to us in Jesus, makes all the more sense to me….and makes me all the more thankful for it.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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