Building Community Through COVID-19

There is much to learn from disease and how it impacts our decisions, relationships, economy, and politics. It forces all of us to accept that we are not in control but must react to what it requires. In the case of the coronavirus, it is touching everyone everywhere and every decision we make based on how it has reached us or not. It has altered our interaction, threatens our economy, tested our political structure, and continues to test our capacity to care for one another. It isolates us from each other and forces us to think about survival, not only for today but for the days and months ahead.

There are similarities to how it has impacted our lives in the same way that other diseases have, with a significant difference, isolation. Those diagnosed with coronavirus are quarantined until they recover or until they succumb to the disease. Once diagnosed, families of the victims in its path reach out to the community that surrounds them because there is nothing else they can do to support their loved one. The call for prayer rings out, and the fear of the unknown prevails. The patient faces an uncertain outcome and consciously or unconsciously waits for the result. That result being recovery or mortality.

I find the unknown and waiting, much like those diagnosed with cancer or other life-threatening diseases. I also find that the building of community a significant force when we are battling illness and a major part of the healing process for the families directly impacted and for our country. When something foreign to us and of which we have no control consumes our lives, we reach out and form a community of support. It is all we can do to keep hope alive. We encourage each other, lift each other, and find ways to support each other during a health crisis. Families become stronger, entertainers find ways to reach and sustain their following with kind words and tributes, politics become bi-partisan, people with few resources give time and money to help their neighbors and their friends. People are paying attention to each other and consoling each other. We must continue to do so, even now as the curve escalates and before it plateaus throughout our country. This virus is leveling the playing field. Like cancer, it does not discriminate. Everyone is vulnerable.

Sadly, a disease helps us build community and think about each other in a way that we would not otherwise. As we struggle to keep food on our table, pay our bills, and stay virus-free, we are concerned about those on the front line and those struggling to breathe and survive. Even if we are not directly affected yet, we know that it might just be a matter of time if we do not practice social distancing.

I hope that what we are doing now to save our lives and the lives of those around us will be sustained long after the virus is under control. That our nation will be stronger and our connections closer and care for each other without the threat of disease. Hopefully, we will understand the importance of personal space, clean hands, and the value of our health care system. And that we will love our neighbor as ourselves. With that, we will have learned from this experience and hopefully be better in the future.