At times, I stop in awe to consider the legion of plagues that have come to define 2020. Apart from the coronavirus, which is biblical enough in scope and deserving of all the concern the pandemic warrants, there have been enough disastrous events to wonder if God, having sworn off worldwide flood, has decided to let loose most of the rest of his arsenal on us simultaneously. And yes, the year is not quite half done yet.
There were the Australian wildfires in January. A close call followed from an asteroid a mile wide, destined to pass even closer in 2079. Earthquakes in New Zealand and Mexico took their place in the litany of events. We have seen economic devastation that only the stock market has failed to take more than passing note of. Locusts in Africa and the arrival of murder hornets ensued. Presently we are seeing a cloud of Saharan dust envelope our land.
All these are sure to take their toll, but the long overdue racial reckoning we are experiencing has risen to the point we may at last face our nation’s past and seek meaningful change, if not as one, then at least among enough to matter.
I am an old white man, and anything I can say about how we got to this moment or what to do about the viral plague or our unreckoned moral one will seem shallow, hollow and simpleminded. Still, I can see we are living in an historic time. I hope and pray and try to do all I can in the hope that when all is said and done, we will all be better and better to each other.
