Wise people get swept up into group thinking and mob-mentality. I actually believe that’s happening right now. no matter my view of the seriousness or insignificance of this outbreak, the collective panic is real, leading to a devastating impact on the worldwide stage.
Well, what can we do?
I’ve read quite a few opinion pieces online, commentaries, church websites, and other collective and interesting points of perspective. Some approach stupidity: “build a bunker, buy gold and hide” to “don’t worry about it.”
If you’re in any Christian leadership role (business owner, pastor, parent, educator, etc.) finding the balance between personal opinion and collective response may be a challenge. Here’s my checklist that I tried to follow:
- Stay calm – the self-defeating nature of panic requires someone to face still while most are running in a circle. Being frenetic doesn’t facilitate anything productive. Whether you select to sit by a body of water to wish or think, journal, choose a run or just drink a cup of coffee, slow your pulse. Apostle Paul told this to his spiritual son Timothy in (2 Timothy 4:5), “keep your head altogether situations…”
- Educate yourself – I’m not, by nature, a researcher. I would like the headlines and bottom lines. But when something happens this large, we must educate ourselves. the web and cable television often feed group-think in chaos, but they will even be valuable tools of data to the diligent and insightful seeker. Don’t just hear your favorite cable station and believe you’ve got head-on things. hear people with whom you’ll even disagree, search for articles from reputable sources, force yourself to not read conspiracy theories.
- Use wisdom – I used to be scheduled to go away for Central America in two weeks for alternative treatment. While I’m within the high-risk group, I’m not really concerned about this virus. I’m in denial of my own condition more than the virus itself. However, I’m scared of getting quarantined during a developing nation! Only a less is that the fear I feel of being quarantined in a sperate place from others like a military base after returning. The logistics of taking care of a quadriplegic my size and my personality is daunting!
I canceled the trip, not out of fear of coronavirus, but out of the truth that, regardless of my health, I cannot control whether somebody on my plane will test positive leading to me being cursed with personnel arguing over “who’s gonna look out of the crippled fat guy over there!”
