Without a doubt, this pandemic has caused a great deal of fear, anxiety, stress and even depression. People have lost jobs, others have had to learn a whole new skill set working from home, some, while having all their children there too! Then there is the illness itself and the measures we are having to take to “flatten the curve” of community spread. As a result we are all suffering the disappointment because of our inability to celebrate holidays, special events like birthdays, weddings, graduations and so much more.
A Statista survey showed 79% of Americans were planning to celebrate Easter in 2019. This year we were ordered to practice “social distancing” so we had to deal with the disappointment of not filling Easter baskets and hiding Easter eggs. We would have loved to have prepared for our Sunday morning services and our Easter dinners with family and friends. Our Jewish friends would have prepared for their Passover feast as well. Instead we were home choosing to do the right thing for the sake of love for others and for our own lives. From the youngest to the eldest in our society we are missing opportunities we will never be able to retrieve and it hurts and it’s hard.
None of us have ever been through something quite like this before. People are slipping into depression and anxiety at a rapid rate and some are desperate to find tools to cope. Alcohol online purchases are up 248% and overall Alcohol purchases overall has increased 55% from last years numbers.
Unfortunately, gun purchases have gone crazy also The Wisconsin Department of Justice stated on March 20th that they were receiving 5 times the average number of daily calls compared to 2019. Mental illness, guns and booze makes for a scary and deadly scenario. Studies have shown that the chances of suicide and homicide increase exponentially when coupled with mental illness and substance abuse and guns are the primary means of death. In fact people with alcoholism are 120 times more likely to commit suicide than people who are not using alcohol to cope. People need hope!
So where do we find hope? How do we find the good in what has become one of the biggest nightmares of this century? Where can you find God in the midst of a deadly pandemic?
If we look at history we will find that there have always been those who chose triumph over tragedy. The greatest and most highly sought after speakers have been those who have faced adversity and used it to inspire others. Those that we look up to the most are people who have risen above what some believe to be insurmountable odds to do what they have done and be who they have become.
This is where our hope lies. It begins with those who have gone before us and have found a reason to go on. They have found their purpose. They have found the strength to dig deep and take one more step, go one more mile and get up one more day. And with every one that I can think of, they have developed a spiritual foundation from which to build their lives. In fact there is a large body of evidence that shows that having spirituality, religion, social supports and purpose, gives people hope. But it isn’t always easy.
Even Jesus cried out “My God my God why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 NIV) He did not want to face death. Not that way. Not at that time. Like all of us, even Jesus would have liked an easier way out than the one he had to go through.
Jesus set the bar for us and fortunately, He showed us that pressing through the tough sacrifices will bring us victory over death. As we choose to stay at home and do what we need to do to keep ourselves and others safe, we will save lives.
We will find that THIS is our purpose. This is right where we are supposed to be and we have a job to do that no one else can fulfill but us. We are the only ones that can choose to make the right choices today, to be an example of those who loved enough to consider others first.
Let’s celebrate the opportunity to love from a distance, to reach out through social media to let others know we care. We are the HOPE that others are looking for. We can give them the Help, the Opportunity, the Praise and the Encouragement they need to keep going. God gave us hope for the future through the resurrection, let’s pass it on that we too can overcome the fear of death by Covid-19. We will rise again as the Faucets of HOPE we were all created to be.
Linda Larson Schlitz is an award winning counselor, speaker, author and life coach and the owner of Faucet of HOPE Ministries LLC. To connect with Linda go to www.lindalarsonschlitz.com or email linda@lindalarsonschlitz.com
