There has been greater national and international devastation but the COVID-19 pandemic has its own distinctive character: states of emergency, nation-wide lockdowns, travel bans, the closure of most public institutions, and dire economic repercussions due to this devastating virus. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has been transforming the lives of millions of people in an unimaginable way. The changes have been taking place so quickly that most of the world’s population has been caught off guard. We are all trying to adapt to this new reality in the hope that the pandemic will end soon, although it is impossible to predict how long it will last and what consequences it will have for all.
Human Beings as Image Bearers of God
Sometimes in life we feel we are very strong, we can do everything. But crises remind us that we are all fragile and susceptible to getting sick and even dying suddenly. In general, we make plans for the future thinking that we are in control of our lives, but a “small virus, a microorganism that we cannot even see,” is enough to completely alter our routines and destroy our plans. We often come closer to God in the face of crisis and sickness. In Nigeria, people often live carelessly without the fear of God and thought they hold their lives, but when faced with a menace they quickly return and become religious and afraid of losing their lives.
Diseases and crises do not make a difference between people, it affects everyone equally. Human beings try to distinguish economic, social or cultural differences, but COVID-19 reminds us that we all can get sick and that we are all interconnected and need each other. At a point during the pandemic in Nigeria people came together in unity to fight the common enemy (Covid-19), we managed to put religion and ethnicity aside. No matter what country we live in, how old we are or what we do, we are all important and necessary in this world. The spread of the virus can only be stopped with the fraternal collaboration of all.
We need to be reminded that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27). The image of God is the fundamental basis for the value and dignity of absolutely all people. The Bible teaches that God is the giver of life, so from conception to the grave we must protect and value everyone’s life. Human life is priceless and no matter the economic consequences that a catastrophe like the one we face brings, we must fight at all costs to care for the lives of all. This is the time that the rich and the poor, the weak and the strong all come together irrespective of their differences, to fight this common enemy (Covid – 19) and I hope this unity will continue even after the pandemic.
-Martin Kamaidan