THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE WILL OF GOD

4/8/20

During times like these, when we all of us are experiencing repercussions of the pandemic ranging from mere inconvenience to horrible tragedy, we often hear people of faith saying things like “It’s God’s will.”   To that I say “Balderdash!”  The notion that God wills a global pandemic that throws scores of millions into economic hardship, sickens millions, and kills thousands is insane, or at least a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of God.  God does not want His children to suffer.  Why He allows His children to suffer has been the subject of much theological speculation and rumination for centuries.  

Much of human suffering through history can be attributed to free will, to wit, God grants us free will and many throughout history have used that free will to say “No” to God’s will, to set their will in direct opposition to that of God.  That is why people suffer through wars, mass murders, or smaller, though still intense, especially at the personal levels, ravages of life. 

However, there are other circumstances, such as meteorological disasters, sicknesses, and pandemics, that defy such explanation.   We are in the midst of such an occurrence now, unless one believes the theories that the coronavirus was cooked up in a biological weapons laboratory in the vicinity of Wuhan or the like.   Barring such an explanation, we are in the throes of a horrible manifestation of the powers of nature.   Why does God allow such things?  Speculation ranges from God’s not being willing to suspend the laws of nature for purposes that transcend the present time to this earth’s not being our final destination, but merely a proving ground of sorts, so we ought to bear it and not worry about it.   But the truth is we don’t know and we may never know why such things are allowed to happen.   Some use such horrid occurrences to dismiss the very notion of God, with the admittedly legitimate rhetorical question “What kind of God would allow such things to occur?”   Those of us of faith can only reply that we don’t know, but we will let our faith sustain us and trust that God has His, or Her, reasons.   If we are to know the reason that God allows such things, He’ll tell us when the time comes.  If we aren’t, S/He won’t.   While such a response may make us appear to be idiots to those who rely solely on reason, Jesus warned us that one of the costs of following Him would be to be regarded as a fool.  And we gladly bear that cost.   Further, this admonition to accept on faith the imponderables of life is not limited to Christians.   All those who believe in, and rely on, a Higher Power, especially in these times of great tragedy and peril, are sometimes, even often, regarded as foolish by those who rely solely on reason.  And that’s alright.

The point of this post, however, is not to speculate on why God lets such ghastly things happen to good and bad alike; much finer minds and more developed souls than those of yours truly have pondered this question for thousands of years and still have not come up with the answer.   The point of this post is to point out that, though these wretched things are by no means God’s will, He, or She, tries to make the best out of even the most horrific circumstances.   This is an exercise of divine making of lemonade out of lemons on a monumental scale.

In this case, you’ve doubtless noticed the spirit of camaraderie that seems to have taken hold of us since the coronavirus started having its way with us.   While this spirit has yet to take up residence in most of our politicians, we are seeing example upon example of people willing to help out their neighbors, relatives, friends and even complete strangers.  Campaigns to raise money for relief efforts, churches, embattled businesses and social service agencies, and the like have been met by generosity on the part of people who are under the proverbial gun financially themselves.   Calls for volunteers are met enthusiastically despite the danger volunteering often presents under the circumstances.   Our health care professionals and first responders are showing even more of the nobility that they show every day they go out to do the Lord’s work.

In response to the pandemic, people in general are starting to focus on more of the things that really matter, like family and friends, and less to the ephemeral piffles that pre-occupy us in more flush times.   Those who, unlike the aforementioned health care professionals and first responders, suddenly find themselves with time on their hands are slowing down and spending more time being rather than doing, savoring rather than rushing, and appreciating rather than aspiring.   They are noticing the blessings that they have, and suddenly pining for the life that was somehow unsatisfactory only a few months ago, rather than reaching for that next brass ring that, this time, will surely make them happy.   They are finding more joy in the company of family and in the company of God than in the pursuit of that next really cool thing that they just have to have.

 Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic, as with all natural tragedies, reminds us that we are not in charge.  Even with all of our knowledge, all of our supposed wisdom, all of our science and technology, and all of our self-assurance, we cannot control nature.   Things that we didn’t even know existed even six months ago can suddenly, if we are lucky, throw our lives off kilter and, if we are not similarly fortunate, end our lives that may have had so much promise only a few months ago.   There are forces in the universe that transcend the mind of man, which is itself one of the universe’s masterpieces, and those forces demand a measure of humility on our part.   If this crisis (By the way, regular, long-time readers know that yours truly abhors the far too regular use of the term “crisis” to describe every minor convenience that afflicts the populace.   However, even I think the word “crisis” applies to the COVID-19 pandemic.) teaches us a little humility, it will not have been worth it, but it will have had at least one major positive outcome to weigh against the parade of horribles with which it confronts us.

Blessed Triduum and Easter, and blessed Passover, to those who celebrate these blessings at this wonderful time of year.