My awareness of the Covid-19 virus and it’s devastating and multi-varied symptoms, started in January 2020. A member of our Origin Church congregation had traveled home to Wuhan with her son for Chinese New Year. She texted my wife and I, saying something wasn’t right. People were sick; it was hard to get information. I started looking.
Within a couple of days I read a tiny article saying that Wuhan was going to be locked down. We texted and encouraged her to make her way home to Canada if they were healthy and she could leave. She made it.
Once in Canada she went straight from the hospital and quarantined with her son in the apartment for 21 days. Yes that’s right — 21 days! She did this voluntarily and in consultation with her family doctor while the rest of us were still trying to figure out if there was really a problem. She and her son were fine, but she was stunned that there were no questions and no instructions at YVR.
Sometime in the middle of February I heard a strange alert on CBC that come from the CDC asking organizations to begin making or reviewing plans to be shut down or continuing with limited operations for several weeks. This was strange! I had never heard such an alert in my life. So I came home that night around 9 PM and asked my family, “What would you want to have in the house if we had to stay at home for two weeks?”
Wow, the looks and the incredulity. But they answered, “Chocolate and toilet paper.” So off I went right then at 9:15 PM to the Superstore and did a big shop for extras that we would want to have in the house if we were here for two weeks. Yes, I bought chocolate and toilet paper.
Then I started following a couple of people on Twitter who were providing almost hourly updates on what was happening in Italy and Iran. Wuhan, Italy and Iran were part of my regular prayer and intercession for days. The images of people dying or dead in the streets were shocking. This was no ordinary flu. Our lives were about to change.
On Sunday March 8th 2020 our congregation gathered on the UBC campus. But I felt strange. Our team of students and staff decided that we were not going to shake hands at the doors and that because we were not sure we could safely administer the Lord’s Supper we were not going to include this in our gathering. These decisions did not feel easy. We tried to work out plans for gathering safely, but we were planning in the dark. We also decided that we would not reach out and touch the shoulder of our neighbour for the blessing at the conclusion of the service. We started socially distancing on March 8th. That’s the last Sunday we gathered publicly since the beginning of the pandemic.
By the next Sunday, 15 March 2020, the UBC campus was rolling up the carpet, shutting the doors, and moving online. So did we.
It’s been a year.