Actually it’s not fond and it probably isn’t farewell. But I have decided that today is the day. I confess – I want it to be the end. I want to say farewell to COVID and to its reign over every facet of everyday life. I want to say farewell to the fear, to the uncertainty, to the government intrusions into our private everyday lives in the name of COVID, to regulations and restrictions (again courtesy of COVID) and to the loss of our God given freedoms, which were never government’s to take away in the first place.

When I started “Corona Chronicles – True Confessions of a Self-Isolator” in March 2020, I never dreamed I would still be writing them more than a year later. After all, it was only to be two weeks to flatten the curve and then we were told thirty days to defeat the virus. Yet here we are today, still masking and distancing, with attendance limits still imposed on some sporting events and other public gatherings and restaurants and other places of business still struggling to remain open amid ever changing rules and restrictions. Over time, “Corona Chronicles – True Confessions of a Self-Isolator” became “C.C.” and although I continue to confess something true in each post, I dropped those words from the title and began to number the posts as it became apparent this was going to be a longer haul than we were previously promised.

Many times I have wanted to end “Corona Chronicles” but in reality, no end has presented itself to date. It doesn’t make sense, nor does it feel right to end something that is clearly not at an end but is still very much ongoing. We were told to wait for a vaccine. We were told the vaccine would set us free. Now the vaccine is here and is available to all. People have been vaccinated in mass. But it turns out, we are still carriers and transmitters of the virus, even when fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people are coming down with COVID and with its variants, (my son included) They must quarantine and test because these individuals can spread COVID to those around them. Because of this, we are told to continue masking and social distancing whether vaccinated or unvaccinated – because both groups are carriers and transmitters of the virus. The only difference is that for the vaccinated, their cases of illness will hopefully be milder than they otherwise would have been. And now there is talk of the “booster” shot for the fully vaccinated. It is interesting that Israel has one of the highest vaccination rates of any country, but is having a big resurgence of COVID cases despite such a large percentage of people being fully vaccinated. Judging by the effect COVID continues to have on our daily lives, we are not yet at an end point.

This highlights for us an important distinction when deciding where exactly is the finish line? (it has been moved so many times) This virus will always be with us. Viruses mutate over time but they remain a presence going forward. However, the position this particular virus holds, the power it has been given, the part this virus plays in dictating decisions in our daily lives, must at some point come to an end. The medical community has a long history of dealing with diseases and has protocols in place which have guided them in collecting data and developing treatments for different diseases, as the need presents itself. Why they have abandoned their protocols and procedures in regards to this virus but not for other diseases, is a question worth asking. The answer could certainly help us to find our way out of this mess, a mess created more by our government’s response to this virus than by the virus itself.

We had plenty of heartache and hardship to deal with in our lives before COVID ever made its appearance. We were no strangers to disease and death before COVID came, either. Generations before us have dealt with smallpox and polio and diphtheria, the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression and so much more. Every era has had its challenges to overcome. This time in history is no different. We will find solutions to our challenges or perish. History has shown that human beings are resilient, courageous and capable of meeting challenges that come their way. The question is, will we meet these challenges in a constructive, creative, productive way that preserves human freedom and dignity or will we allow fear to dictate our “solutions” – “solutions” which themselves become problems more deadly than the disease itself?

Time will tell – she always does. In the meantime, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) I have decided to live today and everyday God gives me, remembering that I am walking in a world controlled not by COVID or any other current calamity, but by a sovereign, almighty, Creator God. COVID does not determine the direction of my steps nor the purposes to which God has called me. It is my Heavenly Father who decrees the end from the beginning and everything in between. This is not COVID’s world – this is my Father’s world! Remembering that truth makes all the difference to me, today and everyday.

So today, Corona Chronicles will come to an end. Molehills, mountains, mercies, miracles and mustard seeds amid the mundane will continue as before – celebrating God’s abiding presence with me and with you, dear readers, in our daily lives which are actually anything but mundane. Eternity present in each moment, we are called to live lives of meaning and purpose for the God who created us, who rescues us, redeems us and calls us daily to walk with Him. COVID is not in control – God is! I want to live like I believe this truth – a truth God had to remind Job of once, long ago when He asked these questions of Job,

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? . . . Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? . . . What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?” (Job 38:4-20)

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God,and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say; My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:9-10)

God’s purposes and plans will stand, not COVID’s, nor anything or anyone else’s. I can take great comfort and hope in this knowledge. So can you.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

bidding farewell to COVID’s control (not its reality) as I fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith – (Hebrews 12:2)

“The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. . . . The heavens proclaim His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.” (Psalm 97:1 & 6)

sincerely, Grace Day