Viruses, Virgins and Vision
There's a quote attributed to Ben Franklin that says 'by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail'. I don't know about ya'll, but I was ill prepared for the Corona apocalypse.
Although I wasn't born with a wooden spoon in my hand, I raised my kids in the kitchen, not the drive-thru. Sure we enjoyed take out on occasion, especially those occasions when I'd worked a full day and was simply too tired to be creative enough for even Hamburger Helper. But for the most part, meals consisted of the weekly grocery purchases.
Enter January 2020, and my empty nest equaled an empty pantry in these parts. We were eating out more because it was easier with just the two of us. My husband had become a regular at the local Dollar General because of his weekly foraging for quick eats. Even a peanut butter cracker was hard to come by in our kitchen. I was Old Mother Hubbard caught with a bare cupboard.
There's a parable in Matthew 25 that tells the story of ten virgins waiting on a bridegroom. Apparently, this groom is in no hurry to collect them. Five of the virgins brought extra oil for just such an eventuality, and the other five did not. Having run out just as it was time to go meet the groom, the oil-less virgins demanded that those who came prepared share their oil. The five who prepared strongly suggested the oil-less go to the merchants and buy their own, for fear they too would miss the groom.
All ten virgins knew the groom was coming, but only five prepared for unforeseen circumstances. This unforeseen virus has caught many of us with our lamps out and no oil in the pantry to light them. Businesses, hospitals, schools, and especially politicians, have been caught with empty pantries and bank accounts.
In 1787, Alexander Tytler, an economist, said that the world's greatest civilizations tend to go something like this:
From Bondage to Moral Certitude;
from Moral Certitude to Great Courage;
from Great Courage to Liberty;
from Liberty to Abundance;
from Abundance to Selfishness;
from Selfishness to Complacency;
from Complacency to Apathy;
from Apathy to Dependency;
from Dependency to Bondage.
Although I wasn't born with a wooden spoon in my hand, I raised my kids in the kitchen, not the drive-thru. Sure we enjoyed take out on occasion, especially those occasions when I'd worked a full day and was simply too tired to be creative enough for even Hamburger Helper. But for the most part, meals consisted of the weekly grocery purchases.
Enter January 2020, and my empty nest equaled an empty pantry in these parts. We were eating out more because it was easier with just the two of us. My husband had become a regular at the local Dollar General because of his weekly foraging for quick eats. Even a peanut butter cracker was hard to come by in our kitchen. I was Old Mother Hubbard caught with a bare cupboard.
There's a parable in Matthew 25 that tells the story of ten virgins waiting on a bridegroom. Apparently, this groom is in no hurry to collect them. Five of the virgins brought extra oil for just such an eventuality, and the other five did not. Having run out just as it was time to go meet the groom, the oil-less virgins demanded that those who came prepared share their oil. The five who prepared strongly suggested the oil-less go to the merchants and buy their own, for fear they too would miss the groom.
All ten virgins knew the groom was coming, but only five prepared for unforeseen circumstances. This unforeseen virus has caught many of us with our lamps out and no oil in the pantry to light them. Businesses, hospitals, schools, and especially politicians, have been caught with empty pantries and bank accounts.
In 1787, Alexander Tytler, an economist, said that the world's greatest civilizations tend to go something like this:
From Bondage to Moral Certitude;
from Moral Certitude to Great Courage;
from Great Courage to Liberty;
from Liberty to Abundance;
from Abundance to Selfishness;
from Selfishness to Complacency;
from Complacency to Apathy;
from Apathy to Dependency;
from Dependency to Bondage.
We're all so busy living life we neglected to prepare for it. We're so used to instant gratification and abundance, we never envisioned a time of lack. I mean, did you think you'd ever have to scavenge for toilet paper?
Could our lack of preparation mean we're full-on in the complacency stage? If Tytler is right, bondage is our next destination and apathy and dependency will get us there. If we think we have a hard time living without toilet paper, just wait until we're depending on government to provide our next meal. An empty toilet paper roll will be the least of our worries.
Maybe this virus is an opportunity to stop the trend. John F. Kennedy encouraged Americans to ask what they could do for their country rather than what their country could do for them.
We can honor this request by taking the sage advice of our ancestors: save for a rainy day, help your neighbor, be as self-sufficient as possible, do without a little now so that you won't be forced to do without later.
If we listen to our ancestors and prepare for this life as we're living it, and teach future generations to do the same, maybe Americans won't be so quick to hand their freedoms over in exchange for crumbs. And perhaps future generations won't have to fight their way out of bondage -- again.
Could our lack of preparation mean we're full-on in the complacency stage? If Tytler is right, bondage is our next destination and apathy and dependency will get us there. If we think we have a hard time living without toilet paper, just wait until we're depending on government to provide our next meal. An empty toilet paper roll will be the least of our worries.
Maybe this virus is an opportunity to stop the trend. John F. Kennedy encouraged Americans to ask what they could do for their country rather than what their country could do for them.
We can honor this request by taking the sage advice of our ancestors: save for a rainy day, help your neighbor, be as self-sufficient as possible, do without a little now so that you won't be forced to do without later.
If we listen to our ancestors and prepare for this life as we're living it, and teach future generations to do the same, maybe Americans won't be so quick to hand their freedoms over in exchange for crumbs. And perhaps future generations won't have to fight their way out of bondage -- again.
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