I called my mom this morning, wiping my tears and holding back sobs. I felt so extremely isolated. Quarantine was just creeping up and filling me with this achy loneliness. When she answered with his motherly warm voice, I broke. I struggled to even articulate the sadness I felt being so far from her in this strange time. She comforted me, sniffled along with me, and encouraged me.
She reminded me during our short phone call how we weren’t meant to be alone. God said it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone. That’s why he created Eve. It “wasn’t good” and adding Eve made it good. Companionship is necessary. Community is crucial. And especially in times like this, we need each other.
We miss our friends. We miss our normal day-to-day. Some of us even miss our families. And that’s all normal, luckily we’re in a generation that makes staying connected so insanely easy. As we navigate the weirdness of this isolation, don’t let it get the best of you or discourage you. We’re blessed to have FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc.
I always tell myself, “What would Jesus do?” I wear the same ring every day with the letters WWJD. I can’t help but imagine how Jesus would handle quarantine. I can just see him now posting sermons on Youtube for the five thousand at home with their fish and loaves, FaceTiming his mother, Mary, hosting a Zoom call to meet with his disciples, and so on and so forth.
As followers of Jesus, we should do the same. Call a friend today who you know is struggling with this coped up isolation period. FaceTime your grandparents and tell them you love them. Don’t let the day go by without reaching out in love. We sometimes get into these habits of falling off. We can disappear for a while and think no one notices, but how is that living like Jesus?
We weren’t meant to be alone. Don’t fall into that sad world of isolation. Instead, take the time today to encourage one another by simply calling.