Isolation Chamber

With four little ones and a travel schedule that used to have me on planes 50% of the time, I’m not sure I could be a germophobe even if I wanted to be. However, I must admit that the threat of the coronavirus has me on edge. On my third attempt to go to the grocery store and find some toilet paper (which our house really did need), I found myself seemingly the only person not wearing a mask. I began avoiding aisles that were crowded and was shocked when I went to check out and the line snaked down entire aisles because people were standing at least 6 feet apart.

As I left grateful for toilet paper in hand, I thought about how both a consequence and important remedy of this virus is isolation. The illness (or threat of illness) separates us from each other and maintaining the separation is the only way to stop the spread. In this Lenten season, I couldn’t help but wonder how some of my poor choices in life and leadership have the same effect, and yet, how unlike the illness from nature, the isolation of my own making only gets worse the more I quarantine myself. How might my pride or vanity, my stubbornness or impatience be placing me in isolation? When I’m symptomatic in my sin, do I increase the distance between myself and others, or do I choose to draw nearer to those with whom I need to be reconciled? The Lord never recommends quarantine and yet how often do I shut Him out of my suffering? As we seek to keep each other safe, let’s remember the more we share His healing love with each other, the more we inoculate the world against all that ails it. Stay healthy and draw closer!