Good afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There has never been\nanything of the likes of this coronavirus (COVID-19) which the entire global\ncommunity now has to confront. So, here we are in Jamaica facing the worse\nthreat to the life of our people and our economy which we have ever had to\nconfront. Yes, we have faced hurricanes and have rebounded from their impact\nbut, the coronavirus is a different kind of creature with consequences for the\nloss of human life, economic disaster at a global level, and devastation for\nthe lives of those who already live on the margins of society and with limited\neconomic and social security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is quite easy to\nsuccumb to anxiety, panic, and despair in face of this reality and the\nprojected trajectory. However, for\npeople of faith within the Judeo-Christian tradition experiences of this nature\nhave always been part of the narrative of our relationship with God in Jesus\nChrist. In this regard, I invite us to\nreflect on passages of Scripture from the Book of Joel and especially chapter\n2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel\u2019s precise\nidentity is unknown, but what is significant about him is the fact that he was\nthe voice of sanity and hope to his people when they were facing a devastating\nplague. Notwithstanding the existence of\ninterpretations, which suggest that the image of the plague was symbolic for\nanother kind of invasion, I would like to stay with that school of thought\nwhich sees the plague as one of locusts\/grasshoppers which was destroying all\ntheir crops. It was not an\nindustrialised society, but an agrarian one, and so people\u2019s life and\nsustenance were dependent on the crops they grew. Here were locusts destroying before their\nvery eyes all that they had produced (1:4), leaving land, animals, and the populace\ngroaning in travail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel is like many of\nus Jamaicans, and unfortunately some Christians, who see in every disaster the\nhand of God bringing judgement upon people. Joel interprets the plague of\nlocusts as a symbol of the approaching end of history, the day of the Lord, an\nimage which you will hear articulated by many Christians today. He therefore issues a call to repentance in\nvery dramatic and awesome language:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blow\nthe trumpet in Zion; Hearing a word like\nthis in a time of disaster is enough to deepen despair and hopelessness as\npeople survey the destruction before their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet, to read Joel\nas one to be dismissed is to miss the word of hope which he had for the people\nin the midst of a plague and which is no doubt the reason why his prophecies\nhave been preserved for all ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let us walk\nthrough with a re-read of this prophecy and see what it may be saying to us in\nour present virus inflicted crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\nthing must be obvious to all of us, and it is the fact that our ability to deal\nwith the coronavirus cannot be marked by individualism, selfishness, and the\nindiscipline which has now characterized much of our national life. Neither can it be the sole responsibility of\nthe Ministry of Health or the Government. \nYes, they must offer guidance and policy direction, but we as citizens\nmust respond with a collective spirit. \nWe must heed requests to self-isolate or to be quarantined; adhere to\ninstructions to assemble in prescribed numbers and situations; adhere to\ninstructions if living in a community which is quarantined; and we must\nunderstand that if we hoard all the cleaning agents and hand sanitizers for\nourselves, we are no more secure if others are left to run amuck infected with\nthe virus. In this regard, I must point out that the decision to close\ncongregations at this time is not an expression of any lack of faith in God, as some would suggest,\nbut out of a concern for the way in which our personal faith positions and\nactions may hold serious or deadly consequences for the life and wellbeing of\nother citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is clear from these images of fertility is that the plague does not\ndefine the people as condemned to the fate they are currently experiencing, for\nthe best day are ahead of them with God. \nIt is natural for us to see only the predicament of the moment and to\nlet it define our view of life. For the\nChristian, there is no denying the reality of the moment but, there is the clear\nmessage that no moment in life is experienced outside of the presence of our\nGod, and furthermore, with God, the best days are ahead of us when we are\nprepared to live with integrity, honesty, truth and justice as a people, having\ncome to terms with our insights gleaned from the experience of life\u2019s \u201cplague\u201d.\nAs one commentator expresses it, \u201cbecause God’s character is to be faithful,\nthe horizon, dark and gloomy with storm clouds of judgment as night falls, can\nnow shine crisp and clear with the Lord’s favor, when morning dawns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May the God of goodness and love be manifested to all who are faced with fear, anxiety and distress as our nation confronts the coronavirus pandemic; the caregivers be possessed by God\u2019s spirit of compassion; the infected and afflicted find relief; and this pandemic be turned into an opportunity to strengthen the bonds of love and service which bind individuals, communities and nations together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n sound\nthe alarm on my holy mountain!
\nLet all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
\n for\nthe day of the Lord is coming, it is near\u2014
\n2 <\/sup><\/strong>a day of darkness and gloom,
\n a\nday of clouds and thick darkness!
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