Coronavirus..... a laughing matter?

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....

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.

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.