Not Always the Case

By and large old sayings are true. That’s how they get to be old sayings; their truth endures through time.

A stitch in time does save nine. Measuring twice makes the one cut more accurate. Money can buy lots of things but in fact it cannot buy happiness– for long.

You can’t be too careful.

Or can you?

That is what struck me as significant this week. It looks like you CAN be too careful. At least that is the experiment our nation is making right now. How careful can we be as we fight COVID-19? Can we in fact be too careful?

We should be careful about the spreading of the COVID-19 virus. But can we be so careful about how we react to it that we cause other, potentially more devastating, problems? What happens if we are too careful?

In being careful about not spreading the virus we have increased unemployment and decreased other health care services. What newly unemployed workers will have their families thrown into poverty never to escape? What non-COVID-19, non-treated health conditions will lead to additional untimely deaths?

In being careful about not spreading the virus we have sequestered ourselves in our homes and covered our faces in public. What fallout will there be for people who were already struggling with agoraphobia? What dehumanization will linger because we see one another, but only from the eyes up, as a bio-hazard?

If lovers are too careful, their weddings will never occur. If parents are too careful, their chicks will never fly. If writers are too careful, their books will never be published. If investors are too careful, their money will languish in passbook savings accounts.

You can be too careful.

Life has risks. It even calls for them. That’s how mountains get conquered, congregations get planted, careers get advanced.

Yes, there is a difference between a step of faith and a lead of logic. Risks should be calculated and calibrated. And then… in faith… taken.

Maybe the reason our nation and its people are so risk adverse is that we intuitively know that neither our government nor our scientists, with their nascent understanding of the virus, are to be trusted as the omnipotent and omniscient gods many make them out to be. And at the same time we have largely stopped following and trusting the One who really is.

But that might be for another week.

The significant thing for us this week is that we have to be careful that we are not being too careful!

Can I nominate that for a new old saying? “You have to be careful that you are not being too careful!” Significant advice for life beyond this crisis.

What has struck you as significant this week?