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Lent 2025: March 13

Five years ago today, the world shut down. First the schools and colleges (theoretically they went online, but it will be a long debate what level of quality the online instruction achieved), then sports stopped(no March Madness, oh no!) then businesses responded, and finally hospitals and medical professionals were hit hard. 

We all have our experience and feelings about how the country as a whole responded. I have my doubts and opinions, but not being a scientist or doctor, I will keep it on the down low. 

I do know that for most, it was not their finest hour. COVID-19 did not make us anything; it revealed what we already were: insular, selfish, hyper-individualist, materialist, and looking for excuses not to engage any more. 

The church has not done a whole lot better, although it seems that attendance has crept closer to pre-2020 levels. 

Lent is about confession and repentance, and it might be time to confess and repent over our COVID sins, whatever they might have been for us each. 

One of those is denial that it was "that bad." Those are from people who didn't lose anyone. Whatever it was, it was bad. In a class I teach for the University System, one of the assignments is to write about what has happened in the business world since the pandemic. Having read a lot of "it's great I can work at home" and "online shopping is so much better" on  past discussion boards, I warned them to be sensitive in case someone in the class had lost someone or seen them suffer. I think that made some of them more serious, although one student was adamant that remote work is better for the company than in-office work and employers who want workers back are out of touch and date. (I am not convinced of that). 

For me, I should confess my semi-obsession about the numbers and politics of the whole event and nove being aware of those with illness. 


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