COVID-19 has altered Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to the honouring of one’s father or mother from a distance of six feet or two meters. The virus is a killer of heartfelt hugs and kisses between family members and friends. Ed, my old neighbour, says that it is like everyone is guilty of having such bad breath and body odour they must be kept at a distance.
I told Ed that here in our area of British Columbia, more and more, the patience of folks is being replaced with impatience. A growing number of people are fed up with COVID-19 regulations, and they do not want to take it anymore. Protesters seeing themselves as "Silent Sufferers" are uniting! They demonstrate concerning their individual rights, which have been trampled long enough. They are demanding an end to the COVID-19 shut down of normal life, and to the end of governmental oppression. There is a real sentiment that the government has abused its power because of COVID-19.
“Governmental control is never popular,” Ed offered. He says folks either feel the government is too bossy or too indifferent to the needs of the people. Truth is no one pays much attention to the government unless they are unhappy about something the government is doing or not doing. Most folks are content to ignore the authority of the government when it isn't disturbing the flow of their daily life.
Ed remembers when he resented the authority of his mother, who put him and his brother to work cleaning out the chicken house one Saturday. In Ed's 10-year-old mind, cleaning out the chicken house was an abuse of parental authority. Forking out chicken manure was so distasteful that he told his mom he wished he had never been born. She replied that she was glad that he was born and that he could not change being born. What he could change was how he felt about shovelling manure. She suggested he might think more about how quickly he and his brother could have the job done if they worked hard and fast. Ed said that parental authority does eventually give way as children become adults. One never outgrows all authority.
Some adults deal with governmental authority without great resentment or complaint. Others detest all and any authority other than their own. As Christians, one of the Ten Commandments calls us to honour our father and mother. As babies in the womb, we do not have a say as to who our parents will be. Most people know they, as parents, will determine if their baby is loved, fed, cared for, protected and taught as their baby grows from being an infant to an adult. It is a big job that lasts for roughly 18 to 20 years. Parents are under God’s authority who entrusts them with their baby for a lifetime of care.
God gives authority to our governments to protect and care for us and teach us of threats. Certainly, the Covid 19 virus threatens us. Titus 3:1 instructs us: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good.”
