Through the Eyes of Joy Borgan, a Pastor From Portugal.
Faces of Quarantine, One Virus Many Faces.
I am concerned about the seriousness of this disease and deeply saddened to hear of all the people who have lost their lives. After the initial shock of the shutdown, this new way of life has brought a lot of adjustments, but I can see some good things coming out of it also. I used to go out every day, and now I have to stay at home. Before the pandemic, I ran a soup kitchen, and we had to close it. I used to go shopping, and now I have groceries delivered.
I am a pastor, so I used to preach at church every Sunday, and now I record my sermons at home in my office. Because of this situation, our church now has online services. This has allowed many more people than before to hear our services. Our church is international, and we usually have people visiting us from all over the world. Now they can join us in worshiping God together from whatever country they are in- there are no barriers because all of us are in the same situation.
Our family now has a weekly meeting over Zoom, where we have a video chat together. We did this occasionally before but not every week and never with all the family together, so this is very special. I am enjoying talking weekly to our children and grandchildren. Also, I am enjoying online shopping and saving a lot of time and energy from not going to the store every time I think of something I need. I have to be disciplined and shop only once a week, and I have to order my food for two weeks in advance, so I have to plan. It is a good discipline, and I love all the extra time it gives me. Now I can take the weekend off- I never had free weekends before but always had to work. Now I can do my shopping and clean my house on the same day. In the old days, I was so tired from doing all the shopping that I could never do cleaning on the same day- now I can!
I think each country is different, but certainly here in Portugal, the government has done an excellent job of closing things down immediately as soon as the first case was detected in our country. They have been generous in providing financial support for people who lost their source of income. I am shocked by the USA’s attitude and how people were protesting in the street and demanding to go back to work. Even though the health professionals were showing that they needed to stay at home to prevent a further spread of the disease, some people only think about money, and that is very sad.
I hope once this is over, governments realize the harm that we are causing the environment from pollution, and takes serious steps to avoid spoiling our world as we did before. I think governments should limit how many flights people can take a year. I hope that people will continue to stay in close touch with their families.
My city has become tranquil, with hardly anyone is out in the streets. The beaches and parks have been shut off, and all the cafes, restaurants and most of the shops closed. It is as if everyone has hibernated for the winter- but this is Spring!
I was pleased when I first read of Italy’s people going out on their balconies and singing to each other- opera singers, grandmas hitting pot and pans, and people waving to their neighbors that they had never spoken to before. There was a real coming together of people- we are all in this together. That has been seen all over the world in many, many countries. Communities are pulling together and helping each other and especially reaching out to the elderly and lonely. Some really good things have come out of this terrible tragedy.
I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends again, but it will be a long time before we can give each other hugs, and life returns to normal.
However, one thing I am grateful for in this pandemic is that it has helped us to readjust our priorities and see what is really important in life: God, our families and friends, and our health.
