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By Rev. David Williams, retired United Methodist minister and missionary.


But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are not despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.  I Corinthians 1-27-28

As the coronavirus began to fill our space of awareness, I recently blurted out: “I do want to follow the best advice, and to cooperate with those around me, and I will try to stay ‘well.’ I’ve had a good life, and if I get seriously ill, I’m ready to go.”

My children have scolded me for saying this. They’re not done with me yet. even though I fit the definition of a most vulnerable person (So many layers of it that I lose count!), and in my mid-eighties, I HAVE had a blessed, wonderful life. I do get terribly weary and critical at times, especially when I see the panic buying (and participate in it), when I hear clear untruths, blather and bluster, glib estimates of “how long it will last.” I get tired of aggressive interviewers interrupting guests before they finish significant comments.

I have a serious spiritual-struggle challenge.

 Our essential character as humans shines through again – we should expect that! We see on the one hand the persistent pull of narrow self-interest, tribal thinking, and “law of the jungle” values; but on the other hand, we see so many examples of serving others and “reckless” self-emptying love that transcends the primitive pull!

In our creation bubble, we go on living, each day needing forgiveness, each day given a fresh start. Passages such as the above help us to stay humble.