It finally happened.
After six weeks of studying at home each day and barely leaving the house, my 16 year old had a meltdown. It was something in the vein of “I just want to leave the house, go out to a store, see my friends, get something to eat, see a movie…just be normal again!”
“There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.”
This wasn’t a spoiled kid’s rant. It was a normal reaction to weeks of social restrictions.
I’ve felt this many times myself in the past month and a half. If I’m honest, I don’t like limits. I want to go to a Dunkin Donuts at any time of the day and buy a stupid cup of coffee, I want to buy a salty hamburger at McDonalds, and I want to run to WalMart for whatever! As one priest said in a homily, talking about these same issues, “I want what I want.”
Covid-19 has imposed limits on each of us. Some days, the weight feels heavy. Other days, as they blur from one to the next, feel light.
There is a grace in all of this: humility. Humility is about accepting our blessings and our limitations. It’s about being honest with what’s best in each moment. It’s about the truth.
Right now, the truth as we know it, is that we ought to stay at home as much as possible. It stinks and for many Americans, it has particular pain points. Still, it’s the container for our humility right now.