Five years ago this week, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global pandemic.  This was the week (five years ago exactly) that the world began shutting down with stay home, stay safe orders for many of us.  All of a sudden, we were trying to educate our children at home, working from home, and worshiping from home.  We began to fear being exposed to this virus that we did not understand. 

The truth is that there are still questions that health care professional are trying to answer when it comes to Covid.  We still cannot say for certain how many people have died due to Covid.  Covid may feel like a lifetime ago for some of us.  Others may still feel the effects, especially for those who have been diagnosed with Long Covid. 

I read a few articles about the Covid anniversary, and appreciated The New York Times compiling responses from 29 Americans about how Covid changed their lives.*  (The full article is linked below). 

Some of the responses included Donna reflecting that it changed her perspectives on holidays.  Holidays are now more focused on gathering family and counting blessings.  Lynn learned to appreciate her face with no makeup on.  James and his wife had always wanted a dog and Covid helped them make the leap.  Kiki will be 5 in April!  Sydney reflected that Covid stripped away distractions and helped lead her to separation from her spouse (that was a long-time coming).  Michele, her husband, and a few friends began to gather on Zoom to discuss movies.  So far, the group has chatted about 175 movies together.  Charles admitted that he still feels isolated and it’s painful.  Malik shared that some nurses miss Covid in a way because people were kinder then.  There weren’t as many situations with people calling nurses names or patients saying that they don’t want anyone helping them who has an accent.  And now?  This happens every day. 

In the early days of the pandemic, there was a feeling that we were all in this together. 
Before the fights about masks and vaccines and calling the scientific realities of the virus into question. 
And I suppose that what I’ve been thinking about this week is that I hope these hard-won lessons do not disappear. 
Maybe we were kinder then.  Let’s not forget that.

Love,
Pastor Lauren

*Jenna Russell and Christina Morales, “How Covid Changed the Lives of These 29 Americans,” The New York Times, March 10, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/10/us/covid-19-changed-people.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3U4.qPlA.PMZ3nYHUjMiu&smid=url-share

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Thursday Thoughts 3/13/25