COVID Consolations

All is not bleak in COVID

There are a few consolations,

While sacred cows are being attacked

It’s a chance to refocus our vision.

“That no man is an island”

Is coming into strong focus again,

And the fact we are our brother’s keeper

Is easing back to the social frame.

In recent times, but pre-COVID,

We were living for ourselves

And at the beginning of the viral onslaught

The obsession became our shelves.

Protocols were seriously infringed,

Greed and selfishness were rife

Forcing the authorities to put in place

 A plan to avert the pending strife.

Shopping was by the alphabet

A twenty-four-hour curfew was imposed,

And regarding non-essential businesses

These doors were indefinitely closed.

The resilience of the people emerged

As necessity became their focus

And with the exception of a rowdy few,

The protocols became a must.

Churches were closed yet opened

In a way unlike before,

They were able to reach the world

And not only those coming in the door.

Their view became unlimited,

Not corralled by the four walls

And if you are privileged like I am

On many churches you could call.

  

COVID facilitated family time

During the twenty-four-hour curfew,

So much time to spend at home

With the people you thought you knew.

Suddenly they were family discussions,

The chores at home were shared,

The young and old got into the act

To grapple with the COVID fear.

In a life of relative relaxation and ease

We can become a complaining lot

But as we confront the COVID challenge,

Most of that complaining stops.

We turn to counting our blessings

And appreciating every single one

Especially when we think of our loved ones

That since COVID started, are gone.

We have seen a selflessness

Displayed by the many front-line workers

Who, in spite of great risk to their well-being,

They determinedly are serving others.

This has rubbed off on many people

Who, themselves, refused to be spectators,

But, rolling up their proverbial sleeves,

They offer themselves to be helpers.

The vulnerable is being looked after,

Ordinarily there is not much time for them,

Life had become so fast pace

That they were seen as a problem.

To carry them was not easy

It was thought, better to leave them behind,

But during this prolonged COVID challenge

Many have changed their mind.

Consolations aplenty I see

But this is not to make light of the scourge,

Challenges build character, I have been told

And no doubt more positives will emerge.

In times like these we draw closer to God

And there is no greater consolation,

For whether we live or whether we die

He is still our salvation.

Stewart Russell © May 2020