Remembering "False Alarm At Midnight" And the 1918 Pandemic

 In early 1999 I received a phone call from a respected doctor in a neighboring town.  He offered to come to our church and give a presentation on the Y2K situation that was creating fear and concern among many as we approached the end of the millennium.   Most computerized systems back then recorded the year with only 2 digits.  The year was 99 to the computer, not 1999.  The fear was that when we entered the year 2000, the computer would think it was the year 1900.  As a result, electrical grids would fail, planes would fall out of the sky, defense systems would be rendered useless, our infrastructure would collapse, and there would be nationwide turmoil, chaos, and panic.  

 

I asked the good doctor what type of presentation he wanted to give.  He said he wanted to prepare our church members for the coming disaster that he described in apocalyptic terms.  He would talk about storing food, water, medical supplies, and essentials.  He would instruct people how to obtain gun permits and what types of weapons would be necessary.  Since it would be months, if not years, before order would be restored, he would teach us how to survive in the desolation.  

 

I told the doctor that I did not believe there would be any crisis, except for the crisis of people creating panic through fear mongering.  Therefore, his services would not be needed.  He told me that I was making a serious mistake and the “blood of the congregation” would be on my hands!  

 

It was this type of fear and paranoia that led to the 1999 New Year’s Eve presentation at the Civic Center, “False Alarm at Midnight.”  We wanted to reassure people that we had no reason to be afraid.  Extremists, like this doctor, were sounding a “false alarm.”  As we came to the end of the century, we wanted to show how the church had helped in times of great crisis and uncertainty during the past 100 years.  We highlighted the church’s role in the Second World War during the 1940s and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, but we were looking for something in the early part of the century.  What was the greatest crisis during the first quarter of the 20^th Century?  

 

It was the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.  

 

It was because of people’s faith in God, a faith that had been consistently proclaimed in Lexington’s churches that people made it through.  I look back now, 21 years later, and try to remember what exactly led us to focus on the Pandemic in our presentation.  

 

It was not until I started researching that I discovered 675,000 Americans died during the 1918 Pandemic, also called the “Spanish Flu.”  This was more Americans who perished in the First and Second World Wars combined. Davidson County had 713 confirmed cases and 6 deaths due to the influenza, largely due to the strict quarantine ordinances that were implemented.  All schools and churches were closed.  Public gatherings of any type were prohibited.

 

Churches did not have a radio to broadcast services in 1918.  Of course, there was no YouTube or Facebook.  The only “modern” tool of communication was the telephone, which many people did not have.  But people knew how to pray and they knew that God was their rock and their salvation, he was their “refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.”  

 

I remember working on that presentation and thinking how far-fetched it would be to actually have to close our church.  I couldn’t see it happening, not in our modern and advanced world.  I never really thought Y2K would be a problem.   I didn’t lose any sleep over what the doctor said to me.  And if Y2K couldn’t touch us, then surely a global Pandemic could never happen—not in our world!

 

At this writing we are about to pass 190,000 deaths in the United States, 3,000 deaths in North Carolina and 32 deaths in Davidson County.  The majority of schools and churches remain closed.  There are strict guidelines on wearing masks and keeping a safe distance from others.  Public gatherings are for the most part prohibited.  

 

God is still our rock and our salvation, He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.  God saw us through the 1918 Pandemic and He will see us through the 2020 Pandemic.  God is faithful and He has a plan.  Put your trust and faith in Him!