“Hopefully, a More Humane Society Will Emerge.” Louise from Sydney, Australia Shares Her Thoughts.

Faces of Quarantine, One Virus Many Faces: Louise Hambly-Smith

For the past five weeks, Sydney has been paying serious attention to the alarming Coronavirus pandemic that has been sweeping the globe. Schools and businesses have come to a halt. In contrast, only the fortunate few have been able to continue working and being classified as essential workers (including our own child care center). Many restaurants have become semi-successful takeaway restaurants instead of sit-down ones and are just surviving.

Some people have defied the social distancing rules like going and lounging on the beaches, which is frustrating for both law-abiding citizens and law enforcement. However, generally, people are following the rules and maintaining physical distancing.

A lot of families seem to be enjoying this lockdown as it has given them the opportunity to spend more time with their family, doing things like exercise, bbq’s and relaxing in the backyard. But for many others, the experience of being stuck at home, losing their income, homeschooling their children, and the confinement has been extremely upsetting. This has caused much distress to both young and older people alike.

This past week they have eased some restrictions, which is a relief. Up to five adult family members are allowed to travel and meet together. Many businesses can now reopen; hopefully, this offers new hope that life will soon return to regular and familiar routines. I hope and look forward to meeting up with friends, especially during church worship and for coffee times, which I have sorely missed.

I pray that the economy recovers and that people’s livelihoods are restored. But I do feel like we are used to being indulgent, and the habit of spending so much of our income on unnecessary pursuits will have to be reassessed.
I feel very fortunate that most of my loved ones, (though one or two are having to find new employment) in general, haven’t been too adversely affected by the shutdown.

Because of my own personal faith, I trust that God has my affairs in His hands. However, I am cautiously waiting to see how we fair as we come out of this previously unknown experience of being quarantined and how it will affect world economies and peoples. I earnestly pray that we will not just survive, but that we might be reformed to be a more caring, and less wasteful and selfish society. I hope that kindness and concern for our fellow man and nature will not be overshadowed by the previously prevalent greedy attempts to dominate each other and mother nature.

Once all is said and done, hopefully, a more humane society will emerge.