It took less than 24 hours for our world to fall apart. We all heard about the Coronavirus, but it was a long way from us. Life was going on as usual. The ACC Tournament was back in Greensboro and Carolina finally played a complete game dominating Virginia Tech. NC State was on the bubble, as usual, but showed great promise as they dispatched Pitt setting up yet another critical game with Duke.
I attended a Minister’s meeting Wednesday morning and we talked about how the Coronavirus was beginning to change things in worship. No more “passing the peace” in some churches and a couple of ministers said they were not going to pass the offering plate either, which I thought was a little extreme at the time. We talked about plans for the Community Palm Sunday Celebration that would focus on the proposed “Unity Statue.” I told the ministers that since we were rained out last Palm Sunday, I was confident April 5 would be a beautiful spring day! We were getting a Children’s Choir together to sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” It would be a grand celebration!
I was also planning for a great Sunday of worship on March 15. I was preaching my “Census Sermon” that the city asked me to write. We had invited the Mayor, the City Council, and City Administration to attend our worship. Our wonderful Music Minister had enlisted a small orchestra and the music was going to be moving and powerful.
Our Thursday morning men’s Bible Study met as usual at the YMCA and I went to Kiwanis at noon. During the Kiwanis meeting I saw a news alert that the ACC Tournament had been cancelled. Even though there was no basketball to watch, I was busy Thursday afternoon preparing for Sunday worship. Then came the word that the Governor was requesting that there be no gatherings of more than 100—including churches.
My first thought was that since we had no known cases in Davidson County, that we should proceed as usual. The Governor was just suggesting this guideline, it was not a mandate. I decided to call Lillian Koontz who is our Health Department Director. I really thought Lillian would say something like, “Ray, we need to be careful, but it’s not really an issue for us yet in Davidson County.” But that is not what she said.
Lillian told me that this was much more serious than most of us realized and it would get a lot worse before it got better. She strongly recommended following the Governor’s guidelines.
We decided to have our service on Sunday without a congregation. Since our service would be broadcast on the radio, we would have a large audience. We would have a choir and I would preach. I went to bed Thursday night thinking that would be our plan.
Around 5 a.m. on Friday morning I got up and saw an email from my brother in Alabama. My mother had been admitted to the hospital and was critically ill. It didn’t look like she would make it.
In less than 24 hours my world had fallen apart. We cancelled services altogether on Sunday and replayed a previous service on the radio. I was in Alabama saying good-bye to my mother.
The COVID-19 crisis is escalating every day. Schools are out and no one knows when they will return. Life for everyone has been turned upside down. But in a strange way, sitting by my mother’s hospital bed and waiting for her to die was a reminder that God is still in control. There is a time to be born and a time to die and it was my mother’s time. I was with her on Tuesday when she took her final breath. I knew I was on Holy Ground. Her death is a blessing because she is released from the limitations and the awful curse of Alzheimer’s that has dominated her life in recent years.
The 46th Psalm reads: “God is our refuge and strength, a help always near in times of great trouble. That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart . . .” (CEB).
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