Eastertide
April 23, 2020
Scripture Reading:
1 Peter 1:17-23
If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. –1 Peter 1:17-21
Where do we place our faith and hope? Viruses indeed do not discriminate. A fact that should make us consider our priorities in life. I live in the heart of tornado alley. Many victims of a catastrophic storm, usually standing before their destroyed home, will say that they may have lost all their material wealth, but all their family survived. That was what mattered. Many report they placed their faith and hope in God.
COVID 19 has pulled the bandage off the festered sore that people do discriminate. Our discrimination impacts the lives of everyone. The percentage of people of color dying from COVID 19 is disproportionately higher than the rate for white people. There are reasons for that. Many of the people doing essential jobs are people of color like janitors and grocery clerks. Quality, routine health care is not readily available to people working in low wage jobs in a nation that depends on employers to provide the majority of its health care insurance. Thus those low wage workers are more likely to suffer from health issues that heighten their vulnerability to viruses. People of color are much more likely to be sentenced to prison for non-violent crimes than white people. Prisons are too crowded to provide safe distancing in a contagion. This list is endless.
As we work from the safety of or homes or just shelter in place to mitigate COVID 19, we must take some time to ponder a different future. What steps do we need to take to turn our country, the world, into a place where all God’s children matter?
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for turning eyes blinded by our indifference when seeing what we have become as a society, a nation, a world. Help us work to mitigate and end discrimination. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.