It’s hard to see the heroism in staying home. If social distancing
works, we will have saved lives indirectly, never knowing who we helped.
One animation tried to make absence tangible by showing a network of infection,
and highlighting individuals in the growing, branching chain. One
figure is labelled “This person worked from home,” another “This person
didn’t go to that BBQ.” Because they stayed in, they are marked as
uninfected, and each person downstream of them is suddenly freed of the
virus they would have passed on.
Without the image, it’s hard to make the connection. After all, when
someday our children ask us “What did you do during the coronavirus
pandemic?,” it won’t seem exciting to tell them, “I moved my book club
to videochat.” It’s more exciting to imagine that the sacrifices asked
of us will be dramatic and romantic.
But it’s no surprise to Christians that we should value the invisible economy of grace over more worldly signs of effort and accomplishment. We are a people who believe that cloistered sisters, praying privately, have a powerful effect on the world. We are a people who believe that prayer, fasting, and humiliation are as much a part of our response to a pandemic as work on antivirals.