Suffering Quarantine

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 Originally Written for our Day School Newsletter



I find myself, these days, trying not to get too excited about an end to the COVID-19 atmosphere we have been living with, yet I do hope we see a light ahead! I was interested to learn recently that the root word of quarantine refers to a period of time related to "forty." (Think quarter, quadrant, etc.) So, if you remember Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, Noah 40 days and nights on the ark, and Moses and the Israelites 40 years in the desert. All of those references are about suffering (which means to carry) for the sake of new life and growth. In each case, something good came from the quarantine, and as Christians, we would not have our heritage without them. 
Am I trying to make a crummy thing seem not so bad? No way, it has been so challenging. We have all had to reinvent how we live and work and relate. Even my closest companions and I don't always know if it's "ok" to shake hands or hug, rather than just gesture or knuckle-bump. I hate that. What those ancient quarantines teach is that through such periods, spiritual growth may result. When challenged, we have the opportunity to examine who we are and what is truly most important to us. The spiritual work that comes with quarantine may be enriching; to live in denial or to perpetually anesthetize against such spiritual suffering is to miss an opportunity to learn who we are, and who God would have us be. Before it's all over, you might consider making notes about what your spiritual learnings have been. What has this quarantine taught you about who you are, and who God created you to become?

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