Blunt truth is that Covid has made fools of us all - Michael Veitch

It is strange to think that we have been living, as best we can, with the reality of Covid-19 for over a year and a half. If the ongoing trauma of the pandemic has taught us anything, then surely it is an acute sense of our own frailty and vulnerability.
Michael Veitch, Parliamentary Officer, CARE for ScotlandMichael Veitch, Parliamentary Officer, CARE for Scotland
Michael Veitch, Parliamentary Officer, CARE for Scotland

Who among us can say that the daily tally of infections, deaths and hospitalisations; together with the constant alertness to developing symptoms and the possible need to book a test and self-isolate, has not in some way worn us down and added an acute layer of anxiety to our lives?

Furthermore, while our political and medical leaders have undoubtedly tried their best, the blunt reality is that Covid has constantly out-manoeuvred the best of us. Bold political pronouncements about Covid’s demise have oft proved false dawns, as the virus has time and again refused to comply with our hopes or expectations. While we expect our politicians to possess all the answers in a crisis; and may ourselves fall into the role of the ‘armchair expert’, the blunt truth is that Covid has made fools of us all.

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There is no shame in this, for as King David reminds us: “As for man, his days are as grass… the wind passeth over it, and it is gone” (Psalm 103:15-16). In other words, we are vulnerable creatures, who ought to be humble enough to admit that we do not have all the answers. This sentiment is echoed by Moses who prayed God would: “teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

The pandemic is far from over. At time of writing, Scotland has some of the highest virus rates in Europe. Many people are still getting sick and some are dying. As we approach another winter, there is much talk swirling of further Covid surges, a bad Flu year, and yet further stress upon the doctors and nurses to whom we already owe a debt we can never repay.

In such troubled times (indeed, at any time), the wise response is surely to acknowledge our Creator and to seek his counsel and aid. The Apostle Paul affirms that “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1) and it is to Him that they, indeed all of us, would do well to look. God, who has given our incredible scientists the wisdom to develop vaccines that have permitted us to return to at least some semblance of normality. God, whom, at a fixed point in human history, entered into our deeply troubled world in the person of Jesus Christ, rising from the grave so that our final enemy, death itself, might be defeated.

Ultimately, Jesus remains upon the throne, whether we, or indeed our leaders, acknowledge him or not. If we are placing our trust in Him, we need not despair, no matter how deep the darkness may appear at times, but can cling to his timeless promise “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Michael Veitch, Parliamentary Officer, CARE for Scotland

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