When faced with a pandemic...

[Steve & Laura Spinella]

Here's the best personal reflection I've seen so far on living with CoVid*, from an international ministry worker in Italy. *CoVid: aka COVID19, Coronavirus, 

https://tellosblog.com/2020/03/15/coping-with-the-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR3K4Zo623A3DWsYHmUiOOZoPJFBLUpjjey1UZpdkAjPT6yZ6UVp-YUTQTw

This family stayed with us briefly--seems like just the other day, but their baby is a schoolgirl now. The mom's reflections remind me that when faced with difficult circumstances, the first thing we all do isn't heroic--we start by facing difficulties along with everyone else. 

In my case, facing difficult circumstances means that I've already had to apologize--and that's only the times I recognized. I can definitely see that I'm grouchier and that it will probably get worse as I continue to face uncomfortable limits, pressure to make changes, and in general the need to adjust and endure.

Here's the best article I've seen on what might be ahead for us and why, based on what's already happened in China.

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2020/03/14/china-may-prevented-95-virus-cases-acted-silenced-whistleblowers-warning/ 

The two main takeaways I got from this article is that measures to slow the spread of the disease matter a lot and that the more successful we are at slowing the disease, the longer we can expect to continue taking measures. The phrase "several months" comes up. Also, I realized that the measures that have been taken so far are likely only the beginning, and we can expect social distancing et al to keep ramping up for some time yet.

Thanks to my daughter-in-law first, but now I see it going viral, here's the best article I've seen explaining the math behind social distancing. It motivated me to take social distancing more seriously.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/?itid=hp_hp-banner-low_virus-simulator520pm%253Ahomepage%252Fstory-ans

Finally, a shout out to my friends that I had to apologize to, for patiently explaining that I was minimizing how serious this pandemic is. 

When we went through the big earthquake in Taiwan in 1999 some of us responded by explaining why it wasn't that bad. Others responded by explaining how this was our chance to be heroic. Many of us stated that we should not be afraid. But we were afraid, all of us, and we all suffered acute trauma. Many of us also later had symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

I learned to say that there is no normal response to highly abnormal circumstances, that we are all on a journey with ups and downs, glitches and frustrations, and that whatever our reactions are, we can accept them and ask what should we do next (maybe including repent or apologize!) One of my friends quotably said, "I wasn't afraid. I just knew that I had to get my family out of that apartment as fast as I could."

So whatever our journey holds, may we find grace, mercy, and peace, even where we least expect it or deserve it, and may God also give us joy along the way, in what I am currently calling "the Great American Staycation." (Yes, I'm saying this ironically, I know it's not a fun time and that there are personal, social, and economic costs that we know will be significant and probably unforgettable.)

Let's ask for mercy, grace, and peace, for ourselves, for each other, for those we love, and for those around the world that we may not even know about, much less know personally.

Steve and Laura

Steve and Laura Spinella

US: 1930 Springcrest Rd, CO Springs 80920

mail: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Steve cell 719.355.4809, Laura cell 832.755.4261
<spin...@alumni.rice.edu> <

lauras...@gmail.com>