Back in the 80’s, I had an album by “The Cure.” I had the CD in my car and I was driving my grandfather somewhere. He looked at the CD and said, “The Cure? Looks more like the disease!”

That is how I’m starting to feel about these lockdowns. We have been at some level of lockdown since March of 2020 and it’s too much. Children don’t have school and even as adults, our social skills are starting to go by the wayside. It’s so hard to talk to people through a mask, it really keeps you from starting up conversations.

I’ve been in Arizona for much of the lockdown. Things are pretty normal there. Restaurants are open with certain tables shut down. People wear masks, but not outside. People aren’t afraid to have conversations, etc. Now I’m back in California and it’s like I’ve gone back in time. Restaurants are only open in tents outside. (I still don’t understand how a tent is safer than indoors, but whatever.) Salons and barbers are finally open with masks. Curiously, box stores have never closed.

My main concern about these lockdowns is the depression, suicides and general malaise that comes from existing verses living. God did not give us a spirit of fear. I’m not saying go outside and throw caution to the wind. I’m saying, let’s not forget Who is in charge. Who was not caught off-guard by this virus and Who came so that we could have life more abundant.

This morning, I saw a young man on TikTok lamenting how San Francisco is an absolute ghost town and taken over by homelessness and scourge. (My parents were both born in San Francisco and I spent much of my youth there — we lived about 30 miles from the City.) The homeless/addicts have taken over and normal businesses are struggling to make ends meet. This man’s next TikTok was showing him live in the Dubai airport having a lovely meal. He said everything was open there and life was normal so if you wanted to escape America for awhile, to come to Dubai. How sad that we’d need to “escape” America.

I don’t know what Dubai and India are doing differently, but they are not living in constant fear. My parents and brother are older and immune-compromised so they don’t go out. They are very careful. But we cannot forsake our youth and their education and what it means to be alive. We cannot allow another child to kill themselves because they are home consistently and missing out on what it means to thrive.

There is so much strife and anger in the world. We need to bring back the best parts. To eat, drink and be merry. We need to not make the cure worse than the disease.