We have had plenty of COVID patients in the hospital. It is a weird disease. If you are low risk, you are definitely in good statistical shape in regards to your quite low probability of dying. If you are older, obese, or diabetic your risks are higher. And it is an infection that when it gets going, and if you are susceptible, there is no good way to stop it. Dealing with it in a resource poor hospital is even more challenging. And so we continue to do our best within the situation we find ourselves in. I am one of those who has respect for COVID, but not fear. And I strongly feel like the Christian response to a pandemic should never be fear. Caution is normal, but as followers of Jesus we should run toward the infected and not away from them. If someone needs a final hug before dying we should give it. We are the ones who lay down our lives for the sake of others. I know that vector transmission and societal good complicate how a person views Christian compassion, but I strongly believe that compassion to the person in front of you even when you are at risk is a character trait of highest value.

I hope that as a Christian brotherhood and sisterhood we spend some time thinking through the theology of Christian love in an era of pandemic. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus, the one who came into our world of sin and died because of it for the sake of all of us? I want to be different than a normal person. I want to be a Christ-affected person who shows compassion even at risk of personal safety and security. It intimidates me to write it, because it is such a high standard, but the highest standards are worth striving toward.