Brent J Eelman
May 11, 2019
Six weeks ago, we began the “mandatory lockdown.” The Covid-19 virus is spreading virulently and the governor of our state, along with other governors across the country have mandated the closure of all businesses apart from those that are regarded as “essential.” We are advised to stay in our homes and observe “social distancing.” Consequently we have begun a period of captivity, isolated within the confines of our homes. Apart from the occasional foray to the grocery store, we continue to remain in our homes, on our property and are physically isolating ourselves from each other.
We are able to be in touch with each other through social media made possible by the internet. Google Meetings, Zoom, and other programs are enabling us to communicate with each other face to face. Social media is enabling us to continue activities in a “virtual” manner, including birthday celebrations, worship services, and family reunions.
There is a phrase, often tacit, that hovers over this period of physical and social distancing: “when we return to normal….” From families to national politicians, one of the assumptions is that we will return to normal. Friends talk about and plan to return to their favorite restaurants. Hopeful economists speak of a V shaped graph. Furloughed workers are eager to return to their former jobs. Students and teachers eagerly anticipate the opening of schools and colleges. We are looking forward to enjoying our forms of recreation, be it on the beach with others or sitting in a crowded stadium enjoying a game.
The tacit belief is that the virus is a pause in our ongoing activity and that soon we will return to the way things were. Stores and restaurants will be open. Beaches will be crowded. The economy will be rolling and we can resume the activities of just four months ago. I fear that this is wishful thinking. The scientific consensus is that this virus will be around in some form for years to come. Hopefully we will develop an effective vaccine, but even then we will face the issues of developing the billions of doses necessary and the delivery system to ensure that it reaches enough people to make a positive impact. Further, we need to recognize that viruses have the ability to mutate, (There is some evidence that Covid-19 already has. See NBC News: Yes, COVID-19 is mutating, here's what you need to know. by Dr. Angel N. Baldwin and Sony Salzman, May 7, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic is not a pause, it is a reboot of history itself.
1: The need for a narrative of understanding.
Human beings are meaning creating organisms. We understand events and things in terms of a narrative or story. Sometimes the story is grounded in reality; at other times it manifests itself as a conspiracy. The plethora of conspiracy theories that inundate our discourse reflect our struggle to understand and come to terms with the events occurring around us and to us. Our narratives reflect our hopes and our fears. They present the best of what it means to be a human being and also the worst.
Narratives, in their simplest and most digestible form provide explanations and causes for events. The most insidious narrative in modern times was the Nazi propaganda which placed the cause for the suffering of the German people on the shoulders of the Jews.
The political enterprise (and its bedfellow propaganda) works at creating a narrative to explain what is occurring and then presents that narrative in a simple believable form with the express purpose of engendering supportive action from the people. As a nation we have experienced a changing narrative. Early in the outbreak the message was one of reassurance: “It is under control.” “It is like a cold or the flu.” “It will disappear when the weather gets warmer.” An important part of this narrative was the emphasis on minimizing, even denying the deadly realities of the virus. “It is a hoax.”
As the pandemic became more widespread the narrative shifted from reassurance to containment. “If we make temporary changes in our behavior we can flatten the curve.” “Testing is available.” “Anyone who wants a test can get a test.” The narrative was that we can beat this thing is we hunker down and self isolate. This narrative praised the scientific community and the national preparedness to meet the challenge of the pandemic.
This narrative ran into two obstacles: 1. The impatience of the culture and 2. The lack of preparation and infrastructure to achieve the desired result. It soon shipwrecked on the rocks of reality.
Currently, there is no unifying narrative and consequently we are a bitterly divided society. We are divided in our understanding of what is happening and our interpretation of the events. We are struggling with the question of why this happened. We are struggling to understand our weak response to the threat of this virus. We are struggling to understand what it means to live as human beings in an age of pandemic. Our struggle has not united us, but rather bitterly divided us. Articles of personal safety, (masks) have become political symbols. Stay at home orders have been challenged by openly armed protestors. The medical/scientific community is coming under attack and even blame for the economic consequences of the pandemic.
The divisions,(political, social, economic, and racial) that have divided our country have become even more pronounced during this time of pandemic.
2. The Captivity as a Narrative.
It is my thesis that the Babylonian Captivity of the Hebrew people can provide us with a narrative to understand what is happening during this time of pandemic. The captivity or exile began in 597 bc when the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, began the removal of the Jewish leadership from the recently conquered Judah. Over a period of 10 years, the educated, those who could govern, and the Temple leadership were taken to Babylon. There they would be removed from the people and thus not in a position to foment any type of rebellion. Thus ensued a crisis for the Hebrew people. They needed a narrative to understand why what they had previously known was being destroyed.
The Psalmist captured their grief and pain, writing,
By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
Their grief was amplified by the lack of a unifying narrative.
How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
They had to come to grips with why they were there. They believed that there was meaning to their situation and struggled to find the words to give meaning to their captivity. Their struggle led to one of the most creative periods in biblical history. In the prophets, Jeremiah and 2nd Isaiah they discovered a narrative that gave an understanding to their predicament, but more, it gave them renewed national purpose.
The 45th chapter of Jeremiah is often referred to as the Oracle to Baruch. Baruch was Jeremiah’s secretary. He recorded the words of Jeremiah. The context for the oracle was the destruction and chaos that the nation was experiencing, and in particular Baruch’s own anxiety as his world collapsed around him.
“Woe is me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.” (verse 3).
The message to him was clear, albeit disconcerting:
“Thus says the Lord: I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land.” (verse 4)
Baruch is reminded of the divine intention. The Hebrew history was being rebooted. This was not a pause. Things would not go back to normal. No. God was going about a process of recreating. This was a sobering message, but strangely hopeful, for it would have reminded Baruch of the other times that he had recorded similar words at the direction of Jeremiah. He would remember Jeremiah’s call as a prophet:
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.” (Ch. 1:10)
“….To build and to plant…” This reboot of history was also a creative moment. The divine narrative was “Do not despair over what was lost, what was broken down or destroyed. Now is the time for building and planting.”
This narrative of hope in the midst of despair is supported by practical advice from Jeremiah to the exiles.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Ch. 29:4-7)
There is realism in these words. Good days were not right around the corner. The people needed to begin to adjust to life in captivity. It would last for generations. In short, the prophetic message to the people in exile was, “You will there for a long time. Make it work.”
The time of captivity was also a time of creativity and hope.
"Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Ch. 29:10-11).
The creativity of this period of captivity was a time to look back on their history and the work of the Divine. During this time the priestly writer, struggled with what it meant for a nation to suffer, and then realized that creation itself was the work of God who suffered. Creation was the divine response to anomie, darkness, loneliness and pain. And so he recorded the words that begin the scriptures:
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” (Gen. 1:1-5)
The narrative of hope in the midst of captivity emerged in the prophesy of Second Isaiah (chapters 40-66). The prophet begins with a word of comfort to the despairing captives.
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:1-2)
But the words of comfort quickly pivot to ones of preparation anticipating a new future:
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40 3-5)
The prophet in subsequent oracles interprets Israel’s suffering as redemptive (the “Servant Songs”) and anticipates the future as one that is filled with promise, finally culminating in this glorious statement:
For as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make,
shall remain before me, says the Lord;
so shall your descendants and your name remain. (Isaiah 66:22)
The period of the Babylonian Captivity or exile was one of the most creative periods in biblical history. The Hebrew people discovered a narrative that gave meaning to their current context, their history, and their future. The warrior/conquering image of the divine gave way to a God who suffered with his people, a God who experienced the pain of despair when his people forsook his covenant. They came to grips with their own unfaithfulness, their callous disregard for justice, and their neglect of the poor. They began to understand their national mission, not in terms of exclusivity, but rather as one of inclusion. They were to be a “light to the nations” and through them humanity itself would be redeemed.
Within the Christian tradition we understand this narrative of redemptive suffering, the call to repentance, and the hope of a new creation as occurring in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is no small coincidence that during the Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons, we lean heavily upon the Hebrew literature of the Captivity to express our own narrative of redemption.
3. Forging a Narrative of Suffering, Repentance and Redemption.
I fear that those who proclaim the message of a return to normalcy are our modern Hananiah’s (see chapter 29 of Jeremiah) spewing false hope that is ultimately dangerous and deadly. The danger is that what we regard as normal is deadly and the pandemic has exposed it for those who have eyes to see and minds to understand.
Consider:
- Those whom we regard as “essential workers” are some of the most exploited in our economy. The people who drive the delivery trucks, who stock the shelves, who work the cash registers, who prepare the food are often paid an unlivable minimum wage. They work without the benefit of health insurance and retirement savings. We have also seen intense outbreaks in nursing homes housing the elderly and most vulnerable, in overcrowded prisons, and in the meatpacking industry. Once again those who work in these occupations are often poorly paid and economically vulnerable.
- We have linked healthcare with employment. With the furloughing of employees, millions will lose their healthcare insurance. For some this will be devastating especially if they contract Covid-19.
- We have armed ourselves to the teeth with military grade weapons and are now witnessing the presence of militia styled protests at capitols.
- We are witnessing the continuing plague of racism in our society as manifest in the recent shooting of a black man jogging. African Americans and other minorities are bearing a disproportionate burden of illness and death during this pandemic.
- As a nation we have not come together, rather our divisions are being played upon to further the political ends of some.
- The attempts to distribute aid and resources to those in need was hijacked by large corporations who had the wherewithal to navigate and respond to the processes for getting aid.
- The federal response has been, at best, anemic. It has devolved into a blame game and the denial of responsibility for any type of response.
- Our healthcare system, which is able to do miraculous things in the face of illness and accident, has been unable to respond effectively to this pandemic. We lack the testing wherewithal and tracking ability to effectively open our economy.
- The anti-government narrative that has been the dominant ideology since 1980 has reduced the ability to effectively respond to a national emergency like this pandemic. It is sad that the scientific and medical community has been projecting an event like this for years. Immunologists have developed models anticipating a pandemic. These models have included proposed preparations and responses. Sadly, the warnings, models and proposed preparations have been ignored. The dismantling of our public welfare systems has had a grinding effect upon the poor for a generation.
- Our healthcare system, which we have often praised as being the best in the world, has failed in its response to this virus. To date we have had 1,400,000 cases diagnosed through limited testing. This is 33% of all diagnoses in the world. We have also suffered 81,000 deaths (to date May 11, 2020) or 28% of all deaths. We represent only 4.25% of the world population. Sadly, we have only tested 1.3% of our population. Today (May 11, 2020) we have learned that White House itself has experienced 2 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and that a number of White House appointees and employees, including the head of the Center for Disease Control and the Director for the National Center for Allergy and Infectious Diseases have voluntarily quarantined because of exposure.
- The pandemic has also affected people of different economic situations differently. Prior to this pandemic, it was a recognized rule of thumb that 40% of all Americans could not afford a $400 emergency, (Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018: May 2019, The Federal Reserve.) Those people are being especially hit hard in the midst of this; witness the long lines at food banks and emergency food giveaways. Ironically, many of those who are in the top percentage are doing quite well and even profiting from this emergency.
- The pandemic has also exposed our mistreatment of creation. Because we are homebound, pollution has temporarily abated, revealing for us the possibilities of a cleaner world. This pandemic is a reminder that our behavior does affect the eco-system and that should be a hopeful sign.
This pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities and injustice in the world that we called “normal.” It has revealed who we are as a society, exposing our racism, our exploitive behavior, and the manner in which we have been manipulated and divided by the political forces that govern the country. I do not believe that this is the normal to which we wish to return. The suffering that we are experiencing in isolation and lockdown is the result of our national callousness to the needs of the poor, the importance of universal health care, and the welfare of all of our citizens. The citizen armament movement (which had its biggest month of sales in March of 2020) is serving to intensify this injustice and is creating a potentially violent situation.
It is my belief that this time of pandemic, when we are stuck in our homes, could and should be a time for reflecting upon our national narrative. Times of disaster have often resulted in positive change for societies. Social Security grew out of the economic vulnerabilities experienced during the great depression. National service programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps not only put many individuals back to work but also added value to our national park system. The Marshall Plan in Europe, following WWII, was a response to communist aggression, but it also rebuilt a war-devastated continent and provided a foundation for many of the social welfare programs that have protected generations of the vulnerable. I believe that this is a time for thinking about the future and how we can address the vulnerabilities and injustice that have made this pandemic a national disaster.
We should not want a return to the way things were. It is time to think, plan, and implement a vision of what we as a country can and should be. We need to look back in our history to those who gave vision and leadership, calling on the better angels of our nature to create a nation where justice exists for all. None of our leaders were perfect. They all had faults, some grievous, but the best could articulate a narrative that bound us together and oriented us to a more equitable and just future.
This is a time for national repentance. My hope is that we will use our time in isolation to reflect upon what got us here. That we will envision a future that is just and treats the earth with careful stewardship.. and that we will return… not to the way things were, but to a renewed vision, indeed a new narrative of purpose and hope.
