"America's view of apartheid is simple and straightforward: We believe it is wrong. We condemn it. And we are united in hoping for the day when apartheid will be no more."
A friend of mine has a daughter in her first year of university. The girl is brilliant and funny, and her future seems bright. Tonight, her kid called, but it wasn’t boy problems or a request for money. No, her daughter phoned because some new friends asked her to go out for ramen noodles.
She was upset because she’s not allowed to go out to restaurants anymore. She’s only eighteen, and up until now, has had all the same rights as everyone else. She can’t go to a cafe now when asked by friends. They get to go, but she must stay home.
She had three choices: tell them she couldn’t go because of her medical decisions, fake an excuse to stay in, or go to the restaurant and stand outside the window while her friends eat and talk and laugh. (Perhaps waving at them from the sidewalk and reading lips to catch some of the jokes?)
Of course, she chose the second one. She hasn’t told people her secret, wanting to fit in and fearing she will be shunned if she shares. She’s eighteen! She wants to be chill and accepted. And normal.
My friend’s daughter has been dreaming of her new life away from home all year. Tonight, she sat alone in her dorm room while others from her class went out for dinner without her.
She knows the mandated treatment is risky, especially for those with certain conditions, but in her mind, doing nothing fun and going nowhere seems far more dangerous. What about her mental health? The thought of a life sitting in a tiny room alone all year seems far worse than any possible risk from the procedure.
What can anyone say to her to make her feel better? Don’t live — sit inside and watch life pass you by? Or sign up for our “passport.” Sure, there’s a chance you may die or react but isn’t a life spent on the sidelines a slow death anyway?
An impossible choice. Similar to the choice faced by thousands across our country. I don’t know what to tell them except that God sees it all, and he cares. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3) There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known. (Matthew 10:26b)
Father God is concerned for every daddy who feels compelled to endanger his body to feed his family. He mourns for every nurse threatened with expulsion after giving heart and soul for the last year. All our hairs are numbered by Him; surely every cell is too. Small birds do not escape his notice, and he loves us immeasurably more.
For those of us who believe, we must call on his name as never before. Call on Him when we rise and when we sleep. In our chores and on our drives. Never stop calling his name.
LORD, hear our cries. Father, pass not by. Our King and our God. Selah
Thanks so much for reading. Please check out my latest book: a poetry chapbook focused on the effects of the lockdowns on our society. I wrote this book all last year as I watched the insanity of lockdowns wreak havoc around me.
Lockdown Fragments (PDF copy).
Lockdown Fragments (print or Kindle version)