I’ll be honest, I am genuinely both surprised and not surprised at the same time, with the state the world is currently in with this Corona Virus pandemic.
The mistruths, the hoarding, the end of time exaggerations on social media, it’s all getting a bit much.
Hoarding
What is the logic behind those hoarding toilet paper, amongst other items?
This is a phenomenon which exists not only in my home country of Australia, but many countries around the world.
My theories in collaboration with those who I speak to at work at the retail sites I visit, vary widely as to the reasons of those who do not seem to be open about their purpose of hoarding but the most valid reason I can come up with based on my conversations is that people in china had trouble obtaining every day essentials such as toilet paper due to a strict lockdown.
Friends and relatives overseas were possibly warned and so they proceeded to stock up on essentials, here and on other countries.
This brought on a snowball effect as people saw others buying up on toilet paper, and they themselves joined in the hoarding without actually thinking what they are doing, fearing they had missed something and didn’t want to be left short-changed.
The truth is, the supply chains would not stop here in Australia, and my home state has a major toilet paper manufacturer – who actually stated there is no supply issue, and showed a full warehouse. Yet this did not stop people, and toilet paper continues to be hoarded at every opportunity.
All this causes is issues for the general population to obtain the goods they regularly purchase.
The job losses
The company I work for had a meeting recently, stating that we are classified as an essential service by the government, as we maintain 90% of the country’s financial infrastructure – including all but 1 of the major banks and all major retailers.
My family sighed with relief but the worse part of this, is all the staff that have lost their jobs.
I read today that Qantas, our major airline here in Australia, has lain off 20,000 workers alone. My heart goes out to those individuals and families who now have to find a means of income in a job market which has reduced substantially.
So why is there such a seemingly over reaction to what is essentially a ‘flu-variant’? The mortality rate versus infection is incredibly low.
The truth is though, if you read the facts on the Corona virus, it is not dis-similar to the common flu which hits every season, killing thousands.
I know of a family at a church we attended a few years ago, who lost their father/husband to the common flu virus. Healthy one day, 3 days later, he had passed away.
The only real difference between corona and the flu is there is no current vaccine to protect those at high risk namely, the elderly and those with immune-supressing therapies such as chemo. This is the reason for isolation and separation, to reduce its spread to the vulnerable – which is a fair call.
So while measures laid out by government are sensible, some personal measures are outright ridiculous and cause more problems.
I will say one thing for certain in all of this, is the sense of a lack of Christ in it all. The selfishness of hoarders, the false end time prophets with all kinds of crazy ideas in social media, the over-reaction of some media outlets just to get ratings and fuelling the anxious (it seems every channel has something about the virus)
I just see the result of a society which seeks to remove Christ.
And that is because I feel so many have turned away from Christ to serve themselves. To serve Christ is to serve and help one another.
Take Christ out of the picture and what is left? Care of yourself and all the horrible narcissistic traits that will follow, such as finding security in hoarding.
Stand strong through this fellow Christians, we need to now more than ever, show Christs love to an increasingly empty and anxious world.
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Michael Dahlenburg is an electronics technician. He is non-denominational and has previously been involved in church plants and assisting those in ministry. His interests include; enjoying family, home DIY, gardening, most things tech-related and driving his wife crazy with a constant stream of inventions! He lives with his wife Michelle and three children in God’s own land of Southern Adelaide, Australia.Michael Dahlenburg’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/michael-dahlenburg.html