Fatal Attraction
It might feel like the world is ending.
Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. - 1 Corinthians 7:25-31
Paul really believed there was little time before the world as he knew it would pass away, so he advocated preparing for it by giving up all the things we hold dear.
You could say he was a fatalist.
If he were alive today, he might be even more convinced the world was about to end. How many people are saying that very thing?
Plans are being put on hold if not canceled altogether, and people are preparing for the worst, isolating themselves from everyone and anyone.
I know someone who lives alone and rarely goes out, and yet that person feels it is inevitable the virus will strike.
There is a fatalistic side to all of us. Some are so accepting of their mortality that they take ridiculous risks, while others live in denial about death.
We decided to go out to dinner last night to express our support for a local restaurant we love and enjoy one of our favorite meals. What is usually a busy Sunday was eerily not so. Only one other table was filled and the owner was pacing nervously about.
When all this passes, and I believe it will, what will we be left with?
It makes sense to be cautious, I agree. And we do need to adjust to this new not normal nature of life. But we cannot live apart forever, can we?
In the end, and for all of us there will be an end sometime, we will judge our lives based on what we did with the time we had. We are now in this time of fear and need. How will we spend it?
More to come...