When you go out and see the half empty streets,
the empty stadiums,
the shuttered storefronts,
the people wearing masks,
don’t say to yourself, “It looks like the end of the world.”
What you are seeing is love in action.
What you’re seeing, in that negative space,
is how much we do care for each other:
for our grandparents,
for our immuno-compromised brothers and sisters,
for our first responders in health care, public safety, food provision, sanitation,
for people we will never meet.
People have lost jobs over the COVID-19 virus;
some have lost their businesses;
And many have lost their lives.
All the more reason to take a moment
when you’re out on your walk,
or on your way to the store,
or just watching the news,
to look into the emptiness and marvel at all that love.
Let it fill you and sustain you.
It is not the end of the world.
It is the most remarkable act of global solidarity
we may ever witness in our lifetimes.
Gracious God, help us to persevere in our care for one another for the good of all humankind.—AMEN.
(“Love in Action” by Dorset Campbell-Ross with a few small adaptations)
