Community must unite to overcome COVID-19

Many years ago I was in the US Coast Guard and learned a lot about being in heavy seas. Out on the ocean a thousand miles from nowhere, violent ocean storms are inevitable, and the Coast Guard is rarely in the position of steering around them. Frequently we had to power through them. I can remember my ship riding up on massive waves only to come crashing down into the trough so fast that if one was standing in the forward cargo hold, the deck would drop right out from under your feet and you'd hit your head on the overhead. (Fortunately, the overhead was padded.) Through it all we would literally rock and roll through the most tumultuous water imaginable. In one particular case, I remember taking on 65 foot waves in a 110 foot ship.

Through it all, however, as a crew we remained focused on our jobs, our missions, and our camaraderie as a crew dedicated to working as a cohesive team. In the Coast Guard there was no room for defending one's perception of turf or political ideology,  and we were committed to making sure our own jobs were done to their finest so that the people who were counting on us to get the job done would not be let down.

Most of all, we worked hard as a team to make sure everyone's back was covered, nobody got left out, and everyone's dignity was respected. Trust me. This last one was particularly challenging when you take 180 Coast Guard Sailors into a storm where half are seasick, everyone is homesick, and pretty much everyone was just sick and tired of spending more time with each other than our own families ... yet we did it with pride because we believed in the cause. Therefore, we rode the waves, powered through the storms, and returned to home port proud of who we were and the job we had done as a crew!

For me, this serves as a reminder of how our community, our churches, our nation, and our world can overcome the challenges of the present age. Now is not the time to argue political perspectives over COVID-19 and the unrelenting surge of the Omicron variant. Our hospitals are exploding with COVID-19 cases, unvaccinated people are dying, businesses are struggling, our economy is hemorrhaging, and infection rates are soaring! We did not choose this storm but we are in the midst of it!

This past weekend the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Committee awarded prizes for an essay contest sponsored by the First Christian Church. The prize-winning essay, a brilliant work by Cambell Foster, stressed that if the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was alive today during the pandemic, he would not be focused on the negative, but would find the positive amid the struggles. Her insight was not only profound, but beautifully prophetic!

Cambell wonderfully touched on a reality that many in America have overlooked during the 22 months of this Pandemic we have endured. Far too many have focused on the negative—restrictions, that which is uncomfortable, unwilling personal sacrifices, economic losses, fear, and outrageously stupid conspiracy theories. Yet, the Christian approach would never be one of such dismal dismay and doomsday depression.

Christians are called to a faith rooted in hope and assurance, not dread and dismay. Christians are called to ride the waves of life’s tumultuous storms with confidence and optimism, not fear and frightening rhetoric of shame, partisanship, and baseless conspiracies.

As a community, we are called to ride a storm we do not like, but one we have the faith, hope, and love in Christ to overcome.