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Remember when first word of the Coronavirus pandemic was in the news? There was an immediate deterioration of common sense. People started buying up toilet paper and paper towels. I recall seeing a video online where a woman had pulled a pickup truck up to a store and she had loaded the thing up to the brim with paper products. Someone, trying to appeal to her sense of concern for others, was asking her why she was doing such. She replied with a few choice expletives, letting the inquirer know that this was none of her business. For several weeks after the virus landed on U.S. shores, paper products were scarce. Supply has finally caught up with demand. I’m able to purchase my normal brand of paper products now at the grocery store. There are other shortages though.

I was watching a news feed from CBS on one of my local television news programs recently and it talked about shortages of lumber, puppies and crossword puzzles that have developed due to the Coronavirus. Other shortages that have become evident include lap top computers, freezers, bicycles, and web cams. Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but I’m sure you can see why these things would be short in supply now. Take web cams for instance. We have two laptops and a desktop in our house. The laptops have built-in web cams. The desktop hasn’t. Because the Coronavirus has brought about an era where online meetings have become more common than at any time before, I decided to go to Best Buy to purchase one for the desktop. I’ve always been able to purchase whatever electronic gadget I need at Best Buy. To my surprise, Best Buy didn’t have any web cams in the store. This was about three months ago. A sales associate called the other two stores in the metro to see if they might have one, no luck. Since the middle of March, people have been spending more time at home, resulting in the need to have more connectivity to the world. Web cams are big-selling items now. I found a web cam at one of many Walmart stores located in our area.

The Coronavirus has taken control of, what seems to be, an unquantifiable part of our lives. Furthermore, the longer it remains, the more we’ll adapt to doing things differently. Who would have thought that five months ago dedicated church goers would be satisfied with attending Sunday morning services from the comfort of their living room couch? Worshipping God in your most comfortable lounge wear is something with which we probably shouldn’t get too comfortable. When we do get back into the church building, our Sunday best might not be what it used to be.  Speaking of church and the spiritual realm, I read an article the other day about pastors who are experiencing difficulties during this pandemic. Some are being fired because their congregations don’t think they’re doing a good job, leading during the pandemic. Others are trying to lead congregations that no longer have money to make contributions sufficient to meet the financial obligations of their church. There has been an increase in cases of stress leading to poor mental health of many pastors.

The world according to the coronavirus, or is it the world according to our inability to manage effectively during this global challenge?

I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.