The Covid-19 pandemic has left many of us with a great deal of uncertainty: uncertainty about how contagious the virus is and about the best way to treat it; uncertainty about how long our personal im­munity will last after we get infected and whether a vaccine will ever be developed; uncertainty about the future of the economy and whether jobs will still be there for the 40 million newly unem­ployed; uncer­tainty about how long the public quarantines should continue; un­certainty about what will happen to our­selves, our businesses, our fami­lies and our friends. 

In the midst of so much un­certainty, we naturally look for something firm to hold onto. Cata­clysmic disruptors, whether an out­break of war, widespread riots and looting, or a new coronavirus, humble us and re­mind us how we cannot guaran­tee our own future. 

Yet we instinctively yearn for a way to assure and secure that future for ourselves and for our children.  Where should we turn for safety? 

Maybe we can take a cue from our financial institutions. When uncertainty becomes too high, and lenders realize a po­tential borrower is at high risk of default, they can sometimes turn to a higher author­ity like the federal government to “guarantee” a loan, as in the case of guaranteed student loans. Such loans offer a safety net and take away most risks for the lender. 

What kind of higher author­ity should we be turning to in order to guarantee our future when we face so many uncertain­ties in life?

One lesson of the pan­demic is not to place our hope in unde­serving sources. While scientists may promise new treatments, and politicians may promise safety through contact tracing and lock­downs, these measures are stop­gaps in the face of our larger hu­man ques­tions. 

Many centuries ago, a pow­erful king of the united monarchy of Israel and Judah mused about the false promise of earthly reas­surances. Writing in Psalm 119, King David presciently declared, “Some trust in chariots or horses, but we in the name of the Lord. They will col­lapse and fall, but we shall hold and stand firm.” 

The answer to the uncer­tain­ties surrounding our human con­dition lies, precisely as David noted in his inimitable and direct style, in God himself. He alone knows and understands every event of history, from coronavi­rus pandemics to civil dis­tur­bances to economic collapses. 

It’s important for us to dis­tin­guish between true and false sav­iors. While a vaccine may limit the imme­diate threat from the coronavi­rus for us individually, death will still have its day and eventually lay its claim upon us. As natural as it may be for us to reach out for a vaccine to calm our preoccupations and restore predict­ability to our future, only God opens a real path for us be­yond fear and beyond death. Our lives are on loan, and only He can guarantee the ful­fillment of that loan in a destiny that lies beyond this troubled world. 

Cardinal Robert Sarah summed it up well when he re­cently said: 

“This virus acted as a warn­ing. In a matter of weeks, the great illusion of a material world that thought itself all-powerful seems to have col­lapsed. … A micro­scopic vi­rus has brought this world to its knees… 

“We were promised to push the limits of human nature ever further by a triumphant science. We were told about artificial procreation, surro­gate mother­hood, transhu­manism, enhanced humanity. We boasted of being a man of synthesis and a hu­manity that biotechnologies would make invincible and im­mor­tal. But here we are in a panic, confined by a virus about which we know almost nothing. 

“Epidemic was an outdated, medieval word. It suddenly be­came our everyday life. I believe this epidemic has dis­pelled the smoke of illusion. The so-called all-powerful man appears in his raw real­ity. There he is naked. His weakness and vulnerability are glaring. Being confined to our homes will hopefully al­low us to turn our attention back to the essentials, to re­discover the importance of our relationship with God.”

We have an important op­portu­nity to ponder these deeper lessons of the Covid-19 saga as it plays out in our midst. Rather than placing our hopes in the lim­ited promises of this world, the pandemic reminds us of our vul­nerability and our need for our true Savior, at every moment of our life.

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