Leonard Terry

Dear Ones,

As I have been praying and pondering for the last few weeks what Jesus might be saying to His Church as we walk through this crisis I have found a few thoughts to be very clear.

First, I have watched as a fear that is beyond rationality take hold of the nations of the earth. I did not say there is nothing to be concerned about. There is much to be concerned about. But the fear has moved beyond rationality.

I would say the greatest thing to be concerned with is not the corona virus, though it is to be considered as a great threat. The greatest thing to be concerned about is the reaction that is driving us into unnecessary actions which in themselves may become more harmful than the virus that set the reaction off.

Fear causes us to fixate on single issues and lose perspective and creativity. Fear causes us to see our circumstances in ways that are dark and often hopeless. Fear can produce an isolation that becomes so deep that we become mentally unhealthy. I believe we are not to be bound or driven by fear.
There are many times in the Bible where we are told not to fear.

Jesus, Himself constantly told His disciples this.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32 (NASB)

For example, there is a growing body of evidence that the greatest death toll of this pandemic will be not the virus but suicide. If you need proof of this simply Google suicide rates and the corona virus.

As we are correctly told, those with weakened immune systems are at much greater risk of dying of Covid 19 than those who are healthy. When we consider only that aspect of this disease it makes perfect sense to lock down a whole society.

But it also limits our ability to see the potential greater harm that will be done to people’s lives. And that damage can, will and already has resulted in a huge toll on lives….. beginning with the most vulnerable – those who suffer with mental illness -- for whom complete isolation is a death sentence. It will continue to those who are deeply harmed by the almost inevitable financial collapse, perhaps unnecessarily, brought about by an enforced shutdown of much of the world’s economy.

Many will lose their ability to provide for themselves and end up either in a place of deep depression or even ending their lives.

There is a huge body of evidence that during the great depression people’s health suffered horribly and suicide rates increased dramatically directly from the stress of economic security.

This is not trivial.

Nor is it a false reality.

Like people running out of a concert to get away from a fire, many more people die from the mob rush reaction to fear than would have died in the fire.

Yes, we need to respond to this pandemic. We need to do so creatively and rationally.

While we are vigilant in combating the epidemic we must find rational and creative ways to help ourselves and our neighbors.

Our first call as followers of Jesus is to pray.

We need to pray for our governing officials.

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NASB)

I personally am praying some very specific things for them:

I am praying they will keep sight of the larger picture; that they will be guided by rational and creative thoughts about how to fight the pandemic without destroying more lives through policies which will bring greater harm than real protection.

I am praying that the temptation to power will not come into governing rulers' hearts. They presently have taken for themselves unprecedented power. While this may be correct for the present crisis it will be important for them not to continue in a path that can lead to potential autocracy.

I am praying that they will use financial resources of our society in the most efficient way to actually help save lives and that the end result will not be a major financial collapse.

We need to pray especially for health care providers and those who are in vulnerable essential work environments.

These are our true heroes in this crisis. They are the army in this battle. They need all the help and encouragement we can give them. Pray that they will have the resources to do their jobs in safety.

Pray for our church leaders to find rational and creative ways to continue to bring our fellowships into community with each other.

Pray especially for those who are sick or traumatized by this pandemic or the results of the actions being taken to fight it.

Our second call is to continue being the church – the gathered people of God.

"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Hebrews 10:22-25 (NASB)

We were not only given Jesus in our salvation, we were given each other.

Someone asked me today if we should begin to meet in secret like they do in countries that prohibit Christians to gather. I don’t really think we are in the same situation as they are. The very real possibility that we could pass on this virus to others and potentially kill them is cause to do as much as possible within reason to keep that from happening. So, no, we should not gather in illegal secret meetings.

But we need to continue to be in fellowship. We can find safe and creative ways to do so.

Some churches are meeting online. That’s a good start.

Last week we had our weekly men’s meeting via Zoom. It was wonderful to connect in that way and almost felt like we were still in the office where we used to meet.

There is a way for us to continue in community and still be careful not to spread this disease. We need to find ways to do so.

Our third call is to touch the world -- especially by helping the helpless.

"They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do." Galatians 2:10 (NASB)

As much as is possible, within the constraints of the actual law…. not just recommendations of those without legal authority, we need to care for those who are struggling.

Isolation is a killer too.

We, as the church. have the tools of communication to help others feel less isolated. Listen to the Spirit during the day. As He brings people to mind pray for them but then take the next step to call or text them. Be especially concerned for those we know are very vulnerable to the effects of isolation.

Locally, I just received an email from the director of the Centre of Hope in downtown London, Jon DeActis, He wrote:

"The City of London has approached the Centre of Hope to increase its capacity to serve meals to our community in London to every night during the Covid-19 crisis for the next 6-8 weeks. This opportunity can only be met with the help of our community. We are looking for 6 people to serve food each night from the Emergency Truck on the Centre of Hope's property (Wellington and Horton). The commitment is to serve one night every 2 weeks if we can get enough groups as some churches have already committed to helping out. The time is from 4:30pm-6:30pm, we provide all the safety equipment necessary (gloves, masks etc.) and someone from the Salvation Army Disaster Relief Team would be present each night as well. The Centre of Hope will prepare the meal, we just need servers and folks to greet those that are struggling in our community.

The need is great right now as we’d be serving approx. 150-200 people each night. If we can get 8 more groups to help out, it is only 3-4 nights’ times over the next 2 months. If your church can help or if you have a small/home/life group that could help us, please contact me at 519-617-8740 or jdeactis@centreofhope.ca."

If you can help do so. But even if this is not a possibility for you there is a way you can help others. Make it safe. But don’t hide away in fear. There are many rational and creative ways to touch others' lives in this time of trouble.

Doing so is so important. Not just for those we help but to demonstrate that, in spite of much to be concerned about, we can still push back against the great enemy of fear.

Some have said to me that I am not taking the pandemic seriously.

I have two children who are working in health care whose hospital's toll of death is rising daily. My commitment for them and their colleague’s safety is complete. I take this very seriously. I pray for them with great concern and care. It is not a light thing to imagine that either or both could die from their care of others.

I am also immensely proud of them. Yet, just as they continue in their role of care, I believe we are to do so as well in ways that are safe.

Finally I believe we need to personally not surrender ourselves to crippling and isolating fear. Our God offers life that is greater than any pandemic or even death.

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." Romans 8:31-37 (NASB)

In the light of this truth, I love what C.S. Lewis said of the threat of the atomic bomb which so paralyzed my society in my early life and led to many fear reactions that are extremely regrettable in hindsight.

I can easily put in Covid 19 to see the parallels between those days and these days.

"In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds."

“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

May God’s peace and love keep you safe and hopeful in this time of potential hopelessness. You are loved!

Leonard Terry