Dear COVID-19,

Just when I thought that you had taught me all of the lessons that I needed to learn, I have been proven wrong and learned a lesson far more valuable than any others so far.

This is not about you. I have to keep telling myself that. While you are the current event bringing so much tension and division to the surface, you are not at fault. You are simply the disease that brought all of our capacity for hatred and polarization to light.

When my daughters are fighting over something, I always ask them, “What is more important? Your sister or your toy?” Of course they always say that their sister is more important. However, their actions show that they were, in fact, valuing the item over any relationship with their sibling. COVID, you have turned up the pressure and forced me to answer the same question, “What is more important? Your opinion or your relationships?”

I can’t thank you enough for cornering me with this question, for forcing me to search my heart and discern what my greatest value is. I am choosing definitively to fight for the relationships in my life.

I have decided that my top priority is unity: unity in my family, in my church, in my community, and in my country. By unity I do not mean uniformity of thought, opinion, or decision. I mean unity in the fact that we can have a mutual love and respect for one another as people, created by God, that far surpasses our differing stances on social distancing, masks, or vaccines.

While many see you as the enemy, I recognize you as the flame, burning up the fuel that was ready and waiting all along for the slightest strike of a match. The greatest casualties of your presence will not be physical bodies, but relationships, with destructive capabilities that will far outlast your spread of disease. If I cannot throw water on my urge to point fingers, assign blame, and create an us vs. them stance to justify myself now in the raging fire of another spike in cases, this bitterness will smolder inside until all that is left are ashes.

You are not my greatest enemy, but rather the unchecked tendencies of my heart and mind. I resolve not to create an enemy among the ones I love. I will not let my opinions reign supreme over the eternal value for the human souls around me. I will fight for unity with my words and actions. I refuse to leave this pandemic with a trail of littered relationships in my wake.

Sincerely,

Just one person in the sea of beloved pandemic faces