Have you ever thought about what a miracle it is that you were ever born? To be you, specifically you, there is a one in four trillion chance. You are already a statistical anomaly.
You were meant to be.
When you really stop to think about how one decision your parents made could have stopped you from ever being, it is astounding. For my own parents, if they hadn’t met at the gas station my dad and grandfather owned, I wouldn’t be here. Without a chance encounter on a day when my mom needed gas, on a day my dad was working, in a time frame when my mom was single and my dad was too, that led them to go on a date, Stephanie wouldn’t exist.
I don’t know your story, but somewhere embedded in it, I am sure there are all kinds of moments where a specific thing had to happen in a specific time and space for you to be born. I mean, really, it is such a gift that you and I are alive! All this leads me to conclude that...
You and I were meant to live in this moment.
This moment, this pandemic, looks as if it will be our generation’s greatest challenge.
How are we responding?
This could be our finest hour.
When we look back on this season of such hardship, five to 10 years from now, what will we say? Will we be proud of how we responded?
I know we all have a role to play in fighting this pandemic, our common enemy that knows no boundary lines. Fighting an invisible enemy means we can’t take guns and tanks and fighter jets with us. We need doctors, nurses, masks, gloves, vaccines, treatments, medications, and science, just to name a few. Economically, we need wisdom, jobs, food, money to pay bills, and prudence in how to balance lives and livelihoods. And most of all, we need patience, sacrifice, unity, courage, and grit. Bullets and bombs and war ships can’t rescue us from this war — we have to rescue ourselves.
If you haven’t figured out your specific role yet, look around your life. You are likely tripping on clues for where, when, and how you can make a difference. And when I say your “role,” I am not suggesting you need to do something earth-shattering. I am suggesting you do what is right in front of you.
Now is the time to take action. Big or small, do something today that really matters.
As you set out to join in the fight, don’t forget that you’re (statistically speaking) a miracle. You were born for this time, this place, this country, this city, this crisis. You have a role to play and it matters greatly, more than any of us can really understand right now.
You have the ability to ease others' suffering.
To bring food to satisfy their hunger.
To bring hope into their hardship.
And show up when no one else has.
One day, when you tell your grandchildren or your great-grandchildren about this pandemic, you’ll be so grateful you got off the sidelines and into the game. You’ll tell them about all the sacrifices and choices we made to make the world a better place for them.
If we truly want to, we can become America’s next greatest generation… and wouldn’t that make our own grandparents so proud?
Here’s wishing everyone a safe holiday season.
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