The world has, for all intents and purposes, stopped.
All major sporting events have been canceled. Schools are closed. Churches have stopped gathering. Local club sports teams are not practicing. Most people have now run to the grocery store and stocked up for an extended stay.
It has got me thinking.
Maybe this is a medicine our sick culture has needed for some time.
Please do not read this the wrong way. I am not saying this Covid19 outbreak is a good thing. It is not. It is scary, and a lot of people are going to struggle through the next weeks to months.
But the hard reset that it is forcing on our society could be.
For the next three weeks (at least), most American families will be at home exclusively (or they are supposed to be.) There will be no significant sporting events drawing attention. No club sports to fill the weekends. No school to occupy the days. Nothing.
And, thankfully, for many of us, there is still work. But how many people are working from home right now, instead of fighting hour-long commutes?
I hope this doesn't come off wrong the wrong way, but no drop-offs, not pickups? No sports? Not spending hours in the car. That part sounds kind of awesome to me.
I know there is a lot of hardship that comes with this. There are a lot of people who depend on income from events, and part-time work that is just not going to be there. I get that. But, I also know that as a society, we have been getting sicker and sicker. That has been going on long before covid19.
We need to rest.
It is part of how we have been created. The Ten Commandments speak to that. Number three is "keep holy the sabbath." It is a prohibition against work, and a command to honor the Lord with at least one day of rest a week. And what have we done? We have made our leisure a job.
We take the weekend and crush as much into it as possible, and then on Sunday, we rush to Costco and elbow our way through hoards of other people doing the same thing. When I talk to parent groups, there is always one common denominator. Everyone is exhausted.
So, while we wait out the plague of 2020, maybe we should take the opportunity to rest.
Instead of binge-watching hours of Netflix and disney+, why not turn the TV off for a couple of days too. Read a book, share family stories with your kids, do puzzles, and play board games, pray the Rosary. Most people, when asked why they don't read the bible, will answer that they don't have time. Guess what? Now you do. So, crack open the Good Book. Maybe, even read it as a family.
Life changed today. Nobody wanted this. But, as my four-year-old cancer patient often tells me, "It is what it is." We are where were are. Let's not miss the gift that could be.