Finding True Life in Rest: Quarantine Thoughts Part 3

For the final installment of quarantine thoughts, we have reached items worthy of a more serious reflection. The next benefit of a widespread virus is we have suddenly been washed over by a society wide sabbath of sorts. Sabbath literally means: to stop. Such a drastic change colliding with a human race determined to move faster and faster at all costs. Absolutely, this must add to the anxiety as so many of us suddenly had a pause button pressed that we didn’t even know existed. Sabbath is a biblical command of weekly rest. The Bible is not a rule book by any means. However, as John Mark Comer beautifully states in his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: Jesus simply teaches what is true, “whether we believe him or not is another matter”. When God makes a recommendation to us about how to live, it corresponds to absolute reality. Going against it is deciding to run up the down escalator: exhausting. The command to sabbath is a statement that rest is a necessity for our souls. God speaks truth, he points to life, whether or not you agree and/or follow is an entirely different point. Truth just is. If we are willing to learn to actually dwell in the beauty of this rest, it will be of tremendous benefit to society as normalcy makes its eventual return. 

No Fear in Death

My last consideration for beneficial outcomes of a worldwide virus, stay with me here, comes in the form of extensive availability of time to consider the imminence of death. I read a quote this week which has been attributed to Charles Spurgeon, “It is a very natural thing that man should fear death, for man was not originally created to die”. Fascinating truth, now what do we do with that in the midst of a life that always ends in certain death? For that, another Spurgeon line seems fitting, especially for the current time. “The Christian need not dread sickness, for he has nothing to lose, but everything to gain, by death”. Seemingly oppositional statements, let’s explore them: The former states that man's soul longs for eternity, that unfulfillment is quite easily attained in our fragile state. This leaves us, predictably, shielding ourselves from the idea of death. The latter statement by Spurgeon was not oppositional, rather conformational. In this he brings the two statements together, implying that the immortality our souls long for is granted in eternity with our Creator. 

I, nor Spurgeon I must assume, grant any less meaning to life here on earth because of this. Our days should absolutely be counted as blessings. We should take our physical and mental health seriously because every day we are blessed with is another opportunity to be a beacon of hope to a world adrift in uncertainty. A life of meaning allows us to, as the brother in the fairy tale from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, who, in the end, “greets death as an old friend”.

A Lyft driver TaylorRae and I joined a month or so ago made a comment about it being easy for “us youngsters” to not be afraid of the virus. This is understandable - we are less susceptible to being severely affected or even killed by it. Yet, if I am granted the gift of a life extending for six, seven, or even more decades and still live in a trembling fear of death, I must’ve not truly understood the gift that was each new day of life. It appears that the majority of people fatally affected by the virus have lived many thousands of good days of life before being cut off by this sudden madness. Those left behind in the wake of a lost loved one, of course, feel deep sorrow and hopefully have close relationships to lean on for support.  

I hope we can all slow down, strengthen meaningful relationships, and come to grip with the reality of what actually matters in our momentary lives on this earth. Now, if I were the one to die, is my life ruined by coming to an end? Or was the life up to that point what holds significance?