I had a recent conversation with an acquaintance who shared her feeling of great loneliness during these months of coronavirus. She lives alone and was used to having a full routine of places to go, things to do, and people to meet with. She said she did not mind the break of routine for the first few months. As a senior adult she has some moderate health risks. She also has a lake house that she can go to when she needs a change of scenery. She does not understand why there has not been an all-out effort to help keep everyone safe with enough medical supplies for our seniors and those who have to go to work every day. She has some friends who are out and about as if nothing is different than before. She worries daily about them. She said the one thing she has learned from this experience is that she is comfortable with herself. By that I take it that while she misses others, she does not mind being alone with herself—she likes who she is as a person.
I think it is unconscionable what has not taken place to keep the people of this nation safe. Take, for example, the Greatest Generation, a term coined by Tom Brokaw in defining those born in the 1920’s and early 30’s. They suffered the hardships and poverty of the Great Depression yet answered the call to serve and sacrifice for their country during World War 2 and the Korean War. They created the American Dream. Yet today, many are on lockdown in nursing homes and assisted living centers, unable to have their loved ones near them. A full 40% of the COVID deaths in Oklahoma have come from our nursing centers. Our nursing centers are undersupplied in medical equipment and understaffed with nurses, aides, and support personnel. The residents and staff are rarely tested, and only then after someone reports a contact with someone else who tested positive. There should be a great mobilization effort on our part as a tribute to and for the sake of the Greatest Generation and their children. What happened for it to be perfectly acceptable for elected leaders to take no personal responsibility for the health and welfare of our citizens? Waiting for a magic pill or vaccine to make it all go away is not acceptable. The Greatest Generation is having to spend these precious days in enforced loneliness.
Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. We can do better. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.