strange times

We watch the news and we see mixed messages about what we are facing these days. On the one hand, we are moving toward vaccines being available to children 12-15 very soon. We see the percentage of people who have been vaccinated slowly creeping up. We see guidelines loosening and places once closed opening their doors once again.

On the other hand, we see the number of cases still rising in some places. We see the death toll continue to click on up. We still see and hear of people we know personally suffering from this virus.

It is hard to tell where we really are as individuals, as communities, as states, as a nation, and as a world. We are walking the balance of moving forward and still keeping safe. It is hard to know what to do and how to continue to balance safety for ourselves and safety for neighbors with the fatigue and frustrations of the times. It is easy to want to move on quickly, to return to ‘normal’. It is easy to want to rip away the mask, to skip getting the vaccine ourselves, or to gather in large crowds with no concern for the other.

Maybe I am overly cautious, but I am not quiet ready to return to normal just yet. I still wear my mask in public even though I am fully vaccinated because I don’t know the situation of those that I may come into contact with and I feel called to protect the least of these among me. I chose to get my vaccine because I know that there are those people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and I feel called to do my part to protect the least of these. I still chose to keep my distance and safe spacing out of respect for other people and to care for the least of those among us.

I hope that one day we can all gather again in public without masks and without worrying if those around us have been vaccinated. I cannot wait for the day that my family can sit down in a restaurant and enjoy a meal that was not prepared or eaten at home! But the number of cases that we are seeing does not lead me to believe that we are there yet. My call, as a Christian, to care for the least of those among us does not lead me to believe that we are there yet. We are close, but if we all give up on that call, if we throw caution to the wind for the sake of our own personal comfort that point will only move further down the road. We will only suffer more pain and loss. We will continue to be stuck here in the middle.

Let us love one another as Christ has loved us!