Trauma

Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens.                                                 Matthew 11:28-30 (Living Bible)

Five years ago. It was a shared trauma that we experienced together, and it changed us. COVID-19 slammed into the United States in early 2020, and we have not been the same since. I think it will take even more perspective of time passage before we really understand how profoundly our world has changed since the onset of COVID-19.

We saw caskets being unloaded in cities around the world. New York City morgues were overflowing. We saw pictures of Italian hospitals and morgues where they could not find space for more bodies. We saw burials on an island off New York City that was pressed into service for the bodies of poor and homeless victims who had succumbed to the disease.

There were plans to bring the HOPE ship into the New York harbor to alleviate overcrowded and overwhelmed hospitals. We saw doctors and nurses who had lines etched onto their faces from having worn surgical masks for untold hours non-stop. My daughter was one of them.

I have not even begun to mention the fear of the unknown that we dealt with early in the pandemic. We went to grocery stores (or had groceries delivered in many cases), and we wiped down boxes and containers with Clorox or alcohol wipes. We just did what we could, and worried that it might not be enough.

We saw heroic actions of emergency and medical workers trying to save lives at the risk of their own. We prayed daily for protection from an unknown killer. We just didn’t know what was coming next. We prayed for the delivery of a vaccine that offered some protection.

That, my friends, was a traumatic time that we experienced together. I wish that it had the effect of bringing us closer together as some traumas might. Alas, it seemed to divide us and break us apart in many ways. As we know, trauma is a crisis that has the potential to unite or divide.

Maybe we can still salvage some unity as we look back on the last five years. I hope so.

Prayer: Lord, we are reminded that our only real hope is in you, Amen