In previous posts of “A Different Perspective” and COVID-19, I described C for Courage, O for Overcome, V for Valor, and I for Invisible.
This week we look at the letter D.
D is for DIVINE
Of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God;
supremely good.
[Merriam-Webster]
Let me begin by saying it might seem odd to use the D in COVID from a Divine perspective. Nonetheless, I believe it is important to emphasize the wherewithal of God to bring extraordinary good out of the darkest of life experiences. At this unsettling moment in time, one way to see evidence of that truth is to look no further than the stories of hope and encouragement being shared through various news and social media.
Ask several people to describe God and you’ll likely get a variety of explanations. The Christian will use words like Trinity, Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. Other folks might refer to a Higher Power or the Big Guy up there. The Jew may use YHWH or G-D out of deep respect for that which is so revered it cannot be fully spoken or written.
While our language may differ, there seems to be a common thread to our efforts to write or talk about the Divine—words are inadequate in relationship to the subject. We find ourselves doing things like pointing to the sky, spreading our arms wide, or shaking our head as we attempt to contemplate the inexplicable. The Divine is, on many levels, incomprehensible to our human understanding.
And yet, there are two words within the definition that provide a deep measure of hope—supremely good. If, then, the Divine is supremely good, how do we apply that principle to our present pandemic situation?
From a layperson’s perspective I’d like to suggest the practical application occurs when we push pass our fear and place ourselves in the hands of the “supreme good.” As Julian of Norwich stated: “All will be well and all manner of things will be well.” Quite honestly I used to think this was a bit of pie-in-the-sky-Pollyanna thinking. Not any more. So what changed?
It took me a while [still a work in progress] to see that the Divine’s idea of what was supremely good and mine could be significantly different. For starters, what was God thinking when I was faced with a diagnosis of breast cancer a few years ago? Turns out this big, incomprehensible, mysterious, supremely good God manifested his presence—and his many blessings—in ways I would not have believed possible before the illness. Step-by-step, day-by-day, I eventually learned he knew far better than I did what was best for my physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being.
It would be easy enough to blame the Divine for the awfulness of this pandemic. After all, if God can open a dry path through the ocean for a bunch of Israelites, surely he could stop this virus in its tracks. At the same time, we would do well to remember God’s ways are not our ways. Again, part of the Divine mystery.
It would also be easy enough to blame other people for what has been unfolding over these past months. Why didn’t they tell us sooner? Who failed to do their job? Why didn’t they listen to the experts? At the same time, we would do well to remember that we are the “they” to someone else.
As we strive to live each day in the promise that all will be well, may we take solace that as beings created in the image and likeness of the Divine we have been given all we need to receive not only the supreme goodness that emanates from God, but to share that goodness with others, even and especially when things don’t seem to make sense to our human way of thinking.
His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power.
[2 Peter 1:3]
