It's Not All About You

This week Governor Brian Kemp relaxed some of the restrictions on businesses which had been asked to close during the COVID-19 crisis.  I don't know how many folks were sitting at home itching to go bowling during this time, but now they can.  People can also get a haircut at a barber shop, get a massage and get a tattoo if they so chose.

The reaction to the Governor's moves has caused quite a stir among many folks.  Most of the reaction that I have seen on my Facebook feeds and Twitter feeds has been negative.  

Ironically, the President, while encouraging those who are protesting shutdowns in other states by tweeting out statements such as "Liberate Michigan" and "Liberate Minnesota," has been critical of our governor for allowing people to go bowling.  I offer no commentary on that other than to say I find it a bit paradoxical. 

I also offer no commentary on the wisdom of the Governor's decision.  I don't have all the facts and information available to me that he has. I do believe it is safe to assume that he didn't say, "I know this is going to kill some people but we've got to get those bowling alleys open." 

What I do know is that I won't be going bowling, visiting a massage therapist or getting a tattoo any time soon.  My wife even gave me an at home haircut this week so I can stay out of the barber's chair for a little while longer.  The truth is we all have a choice as to whether we participate in any of these activities.  Most of us will chose not to participate.

Over time, more and more activities will become available to us.  Next week restaurants will be able to open to limited dine in service. Some proprietors have chosen not to do so.  Others will. We will have to make a choice about our dining.  

Beyond dining, we will find ourselves making more and more choices as more and more activities become available to us.

One of the choices that is discussed in the Bible was the choice that Christians in the Ancient Greco-Roman world had to make about eating meet that was sacrificed to pagan idols.  Paul addresses this conflict in the eighth chapter of First Corinthians.

In the town of Corinth there were temples to pagan idols.  Devotees made sacrifices of  animals to those idols.  Of course, that in turn led to the disposition of the meat from those animals.  The pagan temples became a de-facto butcher shop as they sold the meat from the sacrifices.  The Corinthian Christians asked Paul was it appropriate for Christians to eat such meat.

Paul says that the meat is just meat; in other words, it is amoral.  However, he cautions the Corinthians that if in eating the meat with a clear conscience  it might lead another Christian to eat the meat and harm their conscience or be troublesome to them then.  Thus, they were called to not eat the meat lest it harm the conscious of another.

Now we don't have idol temples selling meat these days.  Yet, what Paul has shown us is that our choices are not made in a vacuum.  Our choices can and do have an effect on the lives of others.  We live in an interdependent world.  Nothing we do matters only to us.

So it is as more choices become available to us in the crisis we will have more choices to make.  In the end, we need to realize that our choices can negatively impact the lives of others.  When it comes to COVID-19 it is not only a matter of our health it is a matter of what our practices and behaviors will do to others.

At the beginning of this crisis I saw a tweet from youth fiction author Ally Carter which said,   "I see a lot of people [saying] 'I'll survive the Corona Virus. I'm taking my chances.'  The way I see it is yeah, I'd survive it but I might carry it to someone that wouldn't. That folks is the problem."

Indeed, that was the problem in early March and remains the problem today.  Even as our world opens again we must realize that we aren't alone in our choices.  Our choices do effect others.  Be wise.  We are all dependent on it.