"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself"
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid; step out of line the man come and take you away."
--Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth"
We should not live in fear. This is a sentiment you'll hear a lot these days. Often attending that conviction, especially if one is from a religious background, is the belief that we "need to have faith and trust God." I agree with this worldview. But I sometimes wonder where the line is. Can we really do anything we want in a spirit of faith not fear, or is their a point where we've drifted in to foolishness? How do we tell the difference between wise caution and paranoia, between courageous faith and foolhardy recklessness?
When FDR uttered those famous words about fear being the only thing to fear in his inaugural address in 1933, he wasn't saying that nothing fearful was happening in the land. The nation was in the grip of the Great Depression, the worst economic disaster in American history. Indeed President Hoover, the previous president fumbled in his response to the economic devastation precisely because he didn't take the crisis seriously enough. He strongly believed that the economy would right itself and required little government intervention. Hoover perhaps didn't see clearly the fearful urgency of the moment. Roosevelt did, and his pitch was not that times aren't so bad. No, he was making the case that the United States--her people and her government--had the resources to handle the challenge of the Great Depression. Whatever problems might face the country, we were not to fear them because we had what it takes to deal with those problems. The only thing that could stop the country from moving forward was paralyzing fear itself. The same is true of the many admonitions God made in the Bible to not be afraid. Jesus wasn't saying that there wasn't an actual storm so there was no need to fear; God wasn't saying there's no enemy army surrounding you. He was saying, "Despite the terrifying circumstances that surround you, fear not. I've got this." As my friend Grant likes to say "God's got this." (Check out Grant's meditation on FDR and facing fear in this video. He's got a great series on the U.S. presidents that's worth checking out.)
But it's my opinion that when a lot of people say we "need to not live in fear" this is not what they mean. At least sometimes, this phrase is rooted in the belief there is nothing going on that is worthy of our concern. Any measures to address the spread of the coronavirus are labeled as "fear-based." This is far more Hoover, than Roosevelt. Refusal to acknowledge the gravity of a situation is not fearless; its foolishness. Understandable foolishness rooted in wishful thinking, but foolishness nonetheless. People crying "peace and safety" when things are anything but peaceful or safe put themselves and others at risk.
Another thing is the assumption that "it won't happen to me." There's is no courage in believing that nothing will happen to you or the people you love. I find it problematic when people say "God will take care of us. We just have to trust Him and be unafraid." Trust in God is absolutely the right thing. And faith that God can protect us is correct as well. But faith is the belief that ultimately that God will be with me, not a guarantee that no harm will befall me. The three Hebrew men that refused to bow to the golden idol said "We know that God can save us from the fiery furnace. He will rescue us from your power. But even if He chooses not to we will never worship your idol." That is faith. That is trust. Like Job, who said "Though He slay Me, yet I will trust Him," this should be the mindset of those who believe they are called to take a risky stand. Not the assumption that me and my family will be spared, but even if we are not this is the right thing to do and we will stand firm.
Which brings me to the question of when we should take that faithful, fearless stand. I think the answer to that question is when it means taking a stand for the right. When it comes to helping people in need--then putting our fate in the hands of God and taking the plunge is the right thing to do. There comes a time to put everything on the line--whether it was hiding runaway slaves along the Underground Railroad or Jews in the attic of your home in Nazi-occupied Europe (As an aside, I think its worth pointing out that these people were the exception, not the rule. They were disruptive, radical. We like to flatter ourselves that we would have done the same, but the reality is that if you're not a disruptive radical type now, its unlikely you would have been that type then). It may mean running into a burning building when others are running away, or dropping into enemy territory in the service or your country. It may mean wading into the floodwaters to help someone about to drown or donning mask and shield for another shift in the ICU or grocery store. Those are the times when we must not be afraid. We must do what needs to be done, and trust God to see us--or at least the mission--through. Faith takes over fear when something dangerous has to be done.
Where things stand in our country, we are each free to decide for ourselves where courage is called for and when foolishness is to be avoided. I'm not here to judge those who are doing differently than I'm doing. There are schools that literally cannot afford to offer only remote instruction. If they close doors to in-person classes they may not open for any kind of instruction again. There are families whose circumstances leave them no choice but to go to work and to send their kids to school, the virus notwithstanding. In situations like this, fear has to be discarded, and faith must take hold.
Not everyone has the luxury of staying home in these troubled times and it's easy for those of us who have the luxury to pronounce judgement on those who don't. But I would also caution those quick to dismiss as merely fearful the people who opt to stay home from church, close the schoolhouse doors, or choose remote instruction for their child. What to you looks like "fear" to them may be wisdom. Whether you are acting out of a presumptuous belief that there is no danger or out of a courageous decision to brave the risks, even at potential cost to yourself and those you love, no one else can judge or know. Just make sure that you know.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
--1 Timothy 2:7
I would venture to say that our cases nationally are continuing a very gradual decline. Our numbers have bounced back up in the past three days but are still the third lowest three-day number of new cases since mid-summer. We have had a total of 5,537,708 cases of COVID-19, and of this number 147,968 occurred in the past three days. This about 18,000 more cases then I predicted. Unfortunately, deaths have not yet begun to decline meaningfully. 172,958 people have died of the virus, 3,293 of them in the last three days. This is 748 more deaths than I anticipated. Based on the rates represented by these numbers I would expect 5,687,226 total cases by Saturday, August 22 and 3,286 total deaths.
Florida is back on the charts. Here's hoping it remains there going forward. I'm hoping for more of a downward trend in Ohio than I'm seeing. It appears as if the case rate may be stabilizing but at a higher level than was present in late spring and early summer. We've yet to return to the lower numbers typical of that time. Nebraska on the other hand, while also stabilizing is doing so at a rate that's significantly lower than it's spring peak.
Total Cases
Florida: 584,039 total cases, 2.7% of the population
Ohio: 110,881 total cases, 0.95% of the population
Nebraska: 9,931 total cases, 1.6% of the population
Florida marks it 's third straight period of decline in deaths. This could be the precursor to a national decline in deaths as well. Ohio and Nebraska are back up in deaths, but essentially maintaining a more or less flat death rate. As with cases the death rate appears to be stabilizing but thankfully at a lower pace than the spring. Nebraska's death rate remains essentially flat. Between five and ten people on average pass away in Nebraska from the virus every three days. That's pretty much unchanged since virtually the beginning of the pandemic.
Total Deaths
Florida: 9,931, a rate of 1.7%
Ohio: 3,907, a rate of 3.5%
Nebraska: 373, a rate of 1.2%
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