Opinion: Test, and patience

This was passed along by a friend, the great Jim Dedmon:

Regarding the coronavirus that endangers us: We are not human beings going through a scary, perhaps even fatal human experience in which we are challenged by a devil in viral form that we can’t see.

We are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience, in which God is testing us, but not to see how tough we are when it comes to enduring the inconveniences and dangers presented to us by the virus. He is testing us to see how ready we are to expend the effort it takes to help others deal with their own fears. For God knows he needs a heaven not populated by cowards, but by those who are not afraid to stand against the devil and give him his just rewards.

I was in a grocery store on Wednesday, and I noticed that all the employees and customers were masked up. A month or so, ago, that would not have been the case. Maybe half would have been in masks. People have been convinced that wearing masks is likely to keep them well.

I have convinced myself of that, because I don’t want to get sick and die of COVID-19. If wearing a mask is all it takes to stay well, I’ll do my best to remember to take my mask with me when I go to the grocery store, but sometimes I forget. Then I go back out to the car, get a mask and put it on. But that is a little more trouble than I care to take. So, I try to remember to put on my mask as I am getting out of the car, but I always feel a little self-conscious doing that.

I imagine that people are noticing, and thinking, “har, har. That guy forgot his mask.”

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The Old Timer’s Day Parade has been cancelled, but don’t feel too bad. There will be another Old Timer’s Day next year, or the year after that, and it will be a time of excitement. So, we should be patient.