A few years ago, Dan and I played an
April Fool's prank on some of our family members, telling them that
we were pregnant. We weren't, of course, but we fooled some people
and got some good laughs. Then we had a miscarriage. Suddenly, an
April Fool's joke about a pregnancy didn't seem funny any more. The
next time April Fool's Day rolled around, I happened to see a post on
one of my friends' pages that said, “Pregnancy is not an April
Fool's joke.” It then went on to state how many women struggle
with infertility, go through a miscarriage, or lose a baby at birth.
Joking about a pregnancy once seemed like a funny and harmless thing
to do. But now I could see how a joke like that could be painful for
the many women who want children, but can't have them, or for those
who have lost babies.
Now, you're probably wondering what on earth all of this has to do with the coronavirus. Bear with me....
Now, you're probably wondering what on earth all of this has to do with the coronavirus. Bear with me....
The recent coronavirus outbreak has
elicited a variety or reactions around the world.... mass panic....
concern.... stockpiling of things like face masks, hand sanitizer,
etc., ...joking.... and ridicule. The way we respond to the
coronavirus is likely very closely related to how it has affected us
personally. Most of us here in the US have not been personally
touched by the coronavirus outbreak, at least at this point. And so,
for many of us, coronavirus has become kind of a laughing matter.
I'll freely admit that I have joked around about it a bit myself.
But for others, including some friends of ours in other countries,
coronavirus is nothing to laugh about. They're living a different
life right now, as travel is discouraged or not permitted, schools
are closed and distance learning is in place, or they're facing the
reality that people in their country are dying.
I think, that especially as followers of Jesus, we need to be careful and sensitive in our response to the coronavirus, remembering that for some people we know and love, coronavirus is not funny. I'm not condemning all joking about it. I'm not saying we all need to panic. But please, let's think about the people who have loved ones who have died from this virus. Let's think about those who are living drastically different lives right now because of the precautions being taken. Let's remember that we could be the next one feeling broken and hopeless, because it wasn't just “some older person we don't know” who died from coronavirus, but it was our grandparent, our parent, our next door neighbor. I sincerely hope and pray that it doesn't come to that, but let's remember that for some, it has come to that.
I think, that especially as followers of Jesus, we need to be careful and sensitive in our response to the coronavirus, remembering that for some people we know and love, coronavirus is not funny. I'm not condemning all joking about it. I'm not saying we all need to panic. But please, let's think about the people who have loved ones who have died from this virus. Let's think about those who are living drastically different lives right now because of the precautions being taken. Let's remember that we could be the next one feeling broken and hopeless, because it wasn't just “some older person we don't know” who died from coronavirus, but it was our grandparent, our parent, our next door neighbor. I sincerely hope and pray that it doesn't come to that, but let's remember that for some, it has come to that.
Again, I'm not here to give an opinion
on whether this is indeed a global health emergency, or whether we
all need to stokpile necessities, or whether the media is causing
more panic than necessary or any of the other numerous debates one
could have. After having a miscarriage, I realized that for many people, pregnancy is not something to joke about. Let's remember that for many people, coronavirus is also not a laughing matter.
