Right now we are living through the Covid-19 pandemic. What makes this virus dangerous is the way it is easily transmitted from one person to another. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air, and quickly fall on floors or surfaces. You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within close proximity of someone who has COVID-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth. That makes it highly infectious.
I have a suggestion to offer during these crazy times. While we are quarantined and isolated from other people. While we do our best to practice social distancing (2 meters is a recommended distance where I live); While we carry out all the other recommended measures to avoid being infected by the disease. I would like to propose that we try and be infectious in other ways.
Socially and emotionally speaking you can be positively or negatively infectious. Some people are infectious in the way they positively affect you. Think about that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from the smile of a baby (of course as they grow up they become more suspicious than infectious). There are people whose personality just generates a sense of joy and togetherness when they walk into a room. I am especially impressed by those who exude effortless enthusiasm even without saying a word. They leave you wanting to do more and be more.
You have those who are infectious in negative ways. Their moodiness leaves you feeling bad about yourself. They make you feel responsible for all the bad that is going on in the world. They suffer from predictable pessimism. No matter what you are talking about, you know they will somehow make it sound tragic and end bad. In short when they walk in the room the music stops. Even the baby stops crying. They suck the life out of the party.
Then you have those who are supposed to be champions of faith. Those who are supposed to be men and women of God. At a time like this they should be speaking words of encouragement and hope. It is sad to see that instead there’s a spirit of godless fear that is being pervaded. They share the word of God with the intention of making people afraid of what is happening, rather than making them become sober to the idea that this is an opportunity to do better and be better. So what happens is a contagious spirit of doubt, fear, and resistance to God is spread.
The bible says “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” (Proverbs 17:22 NLT). Be the reason people want to live another day. Be the reason your family member, your friend, or co-worker who has lost their job decides to keep living all because you said, did, and gave off what I call a “faith vibe” and not a “doubt vibe.” What’s the difference?;
Doubt sees the obstacles
Author unknown
faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions ‘who believes?’
Faith answers, ‘I.’
As the medical experts wrestle with finding a cure for this disease. As you and I do our best to radically reduce its spread, what the world needs right now is a dose of infectious faith. It was the Russian author and multiple Nobel Prize in Literature nominee Leo Tolstoy who said, “Where there is faith, there is love; Where there is love, there is peace; Where there is peace, there is God; And where there is God; there is no need.” So if you must be infectious, have faith in God and pass it on.