How are you all doing in this terrible time of isolation? No matter how many government updates I watch on TV, it seems that there is so much more we don’t know than we know.

That’s true of life in general, isn’t it?

As a species, we can be arrogant. We put our scientists on a pedestal, marveling at what they discover and how adept they are at solving the mysteries of the natural world. But lately, more and more eminent scientists admit that the complexity of biological life is truly baffling. The more they discover, the more there is to learn. It turns out the work of science is a humbling undertaking.

How do we all cope with life on earth when nature itself becomes increasingly unpredictable and hostile as it has now? Is it a mistake to think every problem can be solved by human ingenuity? We think we are in control. When something like a virus takes us down, we realize we are not. God is the One in control. Oh, you say you don’t believe in God? Well, whether you believe in Him or not, He requires obedience to His law.

We’re not doing so well with obeying God’s law. You only need to listen to news reports for evidence that humanity has descended into the depths of evil and disgusting behavior, violating every moral law — recent criminals like Epstein, Weinstein, McCarrick, join names like Manson, Dahmer, Hitler, Stalin, who prowled around in previous decades, spreading their bloody influence, corrupting our collective morality. Regularly, at an alarming rate, mothers kill their own children in the womb. Governments continue to keep it legal for doctors to focus their practices on this lucrative specialty, stopping the beating hearts of the unborn and removing them from the womb by painful dismemberment. Why do they so easily abandon their oath to “do no harm”? They torture and kill the most vulnerable and innocent, while society dispassionately debates the merits of legalized murder in courts of law.

Maybe those who deny the existence of God do so to avoid the consequences of evil choices.

Just look at what is happening now! We sit alone in our living rooms, afraid of what? Each other! Is there no connection to this consequence and sin? I think there will be hell to pay.

We all have our unique ways to cope with a pandemic. With all the uncertainty I face in life, I have adopted a new philosophy of acceptance, and when loved ones call to see how I’m doing, I say: “I’ll be okay until I’m not.”

With this simple phrase, I acknowledge God’s supremacy. I accept that we are all going to die, including me. Some of us will die suddenly from some horrendous accident or natural catastrophe. Some will die in war. Others will get sick of Coronavirus, the flu, or some cancer.

I know and love God. I’m Catholic and I depend on the Sacraments and all the graces God gives me through Holy Mother the Church. I am sustained by my religious community, and now my church is closed. Through online Mass at livemass.net and spiritual Communion, I will survive this “dark night,” and so can we all.

I’m in my 60’s, and at high risk for contracting a wide range of illnesses, but I have lived a full life. When I exit this broken world, I pray I will be welcomed into eternal life in heaven, completely united to God, and reunited with loved ones who have passed, in a place where there are no viruses.

I say to the faithful: fear not. The best is yet to come.

Don’t bother hoarding toilet paper either. A clean butt is not going to save you. Get right with God by confessing your sins with true repentance, and ask God to wipe your soul clean.

God bless you.

Julianne