Folks, much as we humans like to pretend we are God, we aren’t, and the coronavirus is here to prove it.
For the entire length of human existence, there has been one rule that has been consistent — don’t get too comfortable because something bad is about to happen.
It might be war, it might be famine, it might be natural disaster or it might be — as in this case — disease.
You would need to have a pretty short attention span not to notice such major events as the Spanish flu, the Black Plague, and the smallpox epidemic that decimated Native Americans after the Europeans arrived.
And you would have to have a very poor understanding of science to not know that viral and bacterial life forms have a tremendous capacity to mutate and adapt to improve their own chances of survival and coincidentally to damage our own.
So, yes, despite our species’ tendency toward arrogance, we really are just living comfortable lives by the grace of God, not because of our own superiority. It was always obvious that at some point the genetic hammer would fall and cull the herd through some kind of bio-disaster.
Is this it? Is coronavirus “the big one,” as Fred Sanford used to ask? I doubt it, but it should be a wake-up call at the very least. No one’s getting out of here alive, and once we accept our own fragility — more like, once we are pounded into submission by nature (or Nature’s God) — we are more likely to start working together to preserve the miracle of human life instead of treating it like a disposable wipe.
We can argue about where coronavirus came from, we can complain about how it is being fought, but the bottom line is that coronavirus (or something like it) was inevitable. Don’t get too wrapped up in the drama. Some of us will get sick. Some of us will die. And some of us will pick up the pieces and rebuild. That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it will always be.
Life will find a way.
What is important is choosing to stay on the side of life — not to surrender to darkness and pessimism. If this isn’t the big one, it isn’t the small one either. Anything that gets our attention and reminds us to try to live better lives while we can — that is a gift, my friends.
Turn on Beethoven’s Ninth, read a good book, hug your loved ones. Not necessarily in that order. You are the reason life matters. Life is the reason you matter. Death is the reason we all matter. Carry on.
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Frank Miele has spent four decades in the news business and now offers conservative commentary to counter the left-wing bias in the national media. If you enjoy reading these daily essays, I hope you will consider purchasing one of my books. They are available through the following Amazon links. My new book — “The Media Matrix: What if everything you know is fake?” — shows that Fake News has been around for years. The “Why We Needed Trump” trilogy tackles the politics of the last two decades: Part 1 is subtitled “Bush’s Global Failure: Half Right.” Part 2 is “Obama’s Fundamental Transformation: Far Left.” Part 3 is “Trump’s American Vision: Just Right.” As an Amazon Associate, I may earn referral fees for qualifying purchases through links on my website. Also consider subscribing to Heartland Diary on YouTube by clicking here for News Every Conservative Can Use. My goal is to reach 1,000 subscribers.
Wow- great read, Frank. Thank you!
Thanks Michael. Appreciate it. Probably not a great read for everyone but I just felt like it was worth saying.