We have all been busy trying to keep busy while sheltering in place, and this is especially true for us seniors.  A lot of people are baking, but now it’s as hard to find yeast in the stores as toilet paper.  Lots of people are binge watching TV.  I read that in Australia not only is there a shortage of toilet paper, but jigsaw puzzles are also gone from the stores.  I’ve been spending most of my time avoiding doing all those things I said that I would do if I ever had the time, but I’ve also been doing some heavy reading.  I’ve been reading Ken Follett’s trilogy of historical novels based in the middle ages:  Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and A Column of Fire.  Each volume is over 900 pages, so it is indeed heavy reading.

The setting for all three books is the English fictional town of Kingsbridge.  The first volume concerns the building of a cathedral in the twelfth century, the second takes place in the fourteenth century, and the last volume takes place during the seventeenth.  The storylines are all fictional, but they take place in the context of the major historical events of the period.  The major event of the fourteenth century is the black death, which killed over half the population of Europe.  Let me tell you a little bit of his poignant description from his second volume; it seems especially relevant to us as we face COVID-19.

We see the plague through the eyes of Caris, a nun who is in charge of a hospital in Kingsbridge.  The plague travelled at an average rate of two to three miles per day, and the wealthy with large estates could sometimes escape it by isolating themselves.  Caris is successful in getting the town to restrict entry (it was walled), but she can’t convince authorities to separate the plague victims from others, and the toll is terrible, even if not as bad in other towns.  Entire families die, and many buildings become empty.  Farms and businesses fail, because there is a shortage of able workers.  Caris evaluates what works and what doesn’t work, with what we recognize as a precursor of the scientific method.  She stresses cleanliness and isolation of plague patients, but both are opposed by officials and the clergy.  She speaks out against the doctors’ standard practice of blood-letting, which she feels only hastens the death of the weakest patients.

Caris is most negative towards the clergy (all men, of course), who feel that the plague is an act of God.  They say that the victims are being punished for their sins.  This judgmental view is strengthened, since the plague hits hardest those who are the least-worthy in their eyes, the poor and lower class.  Part of their objection to Caris’ efforts and use of resources is that they feel she is thus opposing the will of God.  It’s as if they had never read the book of Job.

Unfortunately, even today it is easy for us to blame victims for their misfortunes, and on occasion I have heard myself internally say things like, “But he was a smoker.”  I am not the only one; some electronic evangelists are saying that COVID-19 is God’s punishment for our country’s sins.  These are trying times, but dispensing guilt is no cure.  In these times of physical isolation, we need to do all we can to remove emotional isolation.  The best way is to follow His commandment to love one another.  It should be easy; all we have to do is reflect God’s unconditional love for YOU and me.

Jim