CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
6A ❚ MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020❚ USA TODAY NEWS
Why something is happening, and
whether it's God's will, is a topic Thom-
as Jay Oord thinks about a lot.
A Christian theologian, author and
teacher at Northwest Nazarene Univer-
sity in Nampa, Idaho, Oord has been
busy the past few weeks giving guest
sermons as he tries to answer the ques-
tion “If God is good, then why does the
coronavirus exist?”
There are, he says, a lot of bad an-
swers to that question. When he
preaches, Oord explains that there are
two types of evils: moral evils, such as
murder, and natural evils, such as hurri-
canes, tornadoes or in this case, the cor-
onavirus. People often respond in one of
three ways.
First, there’s the group that says God
is “angry about sin or gays and lesbians
or whatever,” Oord says, and he’s using a
natural evil to punish the world. Oord
rejects that view because “God is a god
of love, he’s not in the business of doing
evil.”
Next comes the group that says God
hasn’t caused a natural evil but allows
it. If you buy into the theory that God is a
god of love, Oord says, that doesn’t
make any logical sense. Letting some-
thing horrible happen goes against
God's nature.
Then there are the people who chalk
it up to a mystery.
Oord doesn’t buy any of those. In his
teachings, he presents a fourth option:
God can’t simply prevent the coronavi-
rus singlehandedly but requires “our
participation and cooperation” to fight
it, he says. In keeping with his founda-
tion that God is a god of love, Oord says,
“I don’t think God is in the business of
punishing and harming the most vul-
nerable, the people on the margins.”
Oord does believe God is omnipotent
but not in what he calls "the classical
view." God can't make a square round,
Oord says, just like he can't contradict
his nature, which is good and loving.
That was the message Oord brought
to Clackamas United Church of Christ in
Milwaukie, Oregon, a Portland suburb.
The Rev. Adam Ericksen, who had Oord
speak, has been thinking a lot aboutcally Bruk prays at particular times, as
mandated by his religion. She asked
what was going on.
“Probably for the first time in my life,
I wasn’t praying because that was the
order of the day or there was a particular
holiday,” Bruk says. “I told her, ‘I need to
have this moment with God. I need to
talk to him a little bit.’ ”
He had an epiphany then, he says, a
startling realization that all he could do,
all he could control, were his prayers. He
knows that for many, the virus and the
accompanying havoc across the globe
will result in doubts. That's normal, he
says.
“I don’t care if you’re the greatest
atheist in the world, something of this
magnitude requires introspection on
some level, and there will be a spiritual
component to that,” Bruk says.
“We’ve always said that for every
breath we take, we should thank God. I
always thought of that as a cute con-
cept, but in the last few weeks, it’s be-
come very real,” he says.
Suffering, he points out, has been ex-
perienced for centuries, by people of all
faiths, as all religious texts document. If
there’s comfort in suffering, Bruk says,
it comes from the knowledge that God
suffers with you. Although Bruk doesn’t
know the why behind this particular
suffering, he does believe there’s a rea-
son for it. He just doesn’t understand it.
“It’s not my job to be God’s lawyer,”
Bruk says. “I’m his salesman. I do be-
lieve he’s the greatest thing that ever ex-
isted, and I encourage people to get to
know him without trying to explain
what he’s doing or why.”Omar Ricci knew the title of his khut-
bah, or sermon, at the Islamic Center of
Southern California would catch some
people off guard. “Thank God for the
coronavirus,” read the headline, which
made more than one Muslim in the au-
dience do a double-take.
When he spoke, Ricci explained what
he meant: Thank God for this reminder
that we are not in control and must al-
ways be dependent on God. Thank God
for this reminder that we should be
grateful for all things – for groceries, toi-
let paper, good health. Thank God for re-
minding us life is fragile, and “we had
best appreciate the miracle and blessing
that God has given us in creating us as
souls.”
As a spokesperson for the ICSC,
home to one of the oldest and most
prominent mosques in the USA, Ricci is
one of many faith leaders around the
world helping their congregations navi-
gate the uncertainty surrounding coro-
navirus, which has killed more than
49,000 worldwide, infected nearly 1 mil-
lion and crippled the global economy. As
church services go viral and newsletters
promising of God’s goodness through-
out this tragedy populate inboxes, ques-
tions about whether God created coro-
navirus – or if it’s God’s will for the virus
to flourish or if it was sent as some sort
of punishment – abound. Many faith
leaders say this is not a punishment,
and they challenge their followers to
find God even in suffering.
From Ricci’s perspective, coronavi-
rus is not only a test of faith but a “solidi-
fying agent of faith,” he says. “When
you’re in difficult times, that’s when you
actually get to practice faith.”
He points to the 67th chapter of the
Quran, verse 2: “He who created death
and life – to test you – as to which of you
is better in conduct. He is the Almighty,
the Forgiving.”
From an Islamic standpoint, Ricci
says, part of that test includes how
Muslims react in difficult times.
“The Quran says trials will come and
to be prepared for them,” Ricci says. “So
how do we react – do we go off and
hoard toilet paper? Or do we take care of
others? If we know trials are coming,
that’s where faith is supposed to kick
in.”
Rabbi Chaim Bruk, co-CEO of Cha-
bad Lubavitch, a Hasidic Jewish com-
munity in Bozeman, Montana, says it's
normal in times of heartache and fear to
wonder, "How do I get through this and
maintain my faith in God?"
For Bruk, it's personal: In Brooklyn,
where Bruk grew up, his father and
three uncles have all tested positive for
the virus. Ages 52 to 77, the four broth-
ers are experiencing various levels of ill-
ness.
Overwhelmed by the situation, Bruk
opened the book of Psalms last week
and took a minute to pray. His 10-year-
old daughter found it odd, because typi-
people on the margins, too. He’s ada-
mant that no matter your belief in the
meaning (if one exists) behind corona-
virus, “the role of the church in this mo-
ment is to make sure no one, including
people on the margins, falls through the
cracks," Ericksen says.
It’s not lost on Ericksen that this pan-
demic is spreading and halting normal
life as major religious holidays such as
Passover and Easter approach.
In Judaism, Passover commemo-
rates the liberation of Israelites, who
were led out of Egypt by Moses after
God sent 10 plagues to the Egyptians. In
Christianity, Easter celebrates the res-
urrection of Jesus. The joyous holidays
acknowledge the deep suffering that
preceded them.
“I think the big question here is, how
do you give a sense of hope in the midst
of this,” Ericksen said. “How do you
make sure that coronavirus, and death,
doesn’t have the last word? That’s what
the resurrection is all about. And now
we’re being asked to enact that.”
That some people are so quick to
compare the current world to Passover
is a bridge too far for Danya Ruttenberg.
Affectionately known as “the Twitter
rabbi,” Ruttenberg has been answering
questions on social media since corona-
virus blew up, often beating back the
idea that God is somehow punishing the
world by unleashing a plague for the
new millennium.
“People want to make meaning in a
time of fear, uncertainty and suffering,
and that’s totally understandable and
natural,” she says. “And Passover is
coming up, so people are making those
comparisons. But no, I do not think God
is smiting us. My theology does not in-
volve a man in the sky with a pair of dice
saying, ‘It’s smite-the-people o’clock.’ ”
Ruttenberg is quick to point out that
people have agency and free will, a con-
cept often referenced in the Judeo-
Christian story about Adam and Eve.
People have choices today, too, she says- whether they’re going to self-isolate
and practice social distancing or if
they’re going let the virus spread.
She finds comfort in a passage from
the Talmud, the two-part Jewish text
that contains centuries of thought, de-
bate and discussion. In Talmud Brachot
32b, Rabbi Elazar said, “Since the day
the Temple was destroyed the gates of
prayer were locked ... though the gates
of prayer were locked, the gates of tears
were not locked.” The idea, Ruttenberg
explains, is that we are always able to
cry out to God and that in times of heart-
break, there are still powerful ways to
connect spiritually.
Although uncertainty abounds, she
can find hope, too.
“I don’t think God caused the corona-
virus, but I see God’s work everywhere,”
she says. “In every single person who
makes the decision to love their neigh-
bor as themselves, in every person
who’s staying home even though it’s not
convenient, in every doctor and nurse
and health care worker who are putting
themselves at risk, in every grocery
store worker.
“The proof of the holy is a lot of
places.”
Pandemic spurs big questions around faith
Religious leaders view
coronavirus as a test
Lindsay Schnell
USA TODAY
A boy carries a box of matzos for Passover in Brooklyn, N.Y. Amid the COVID-
coronavirus outbreak, Jewish communities are adapting their Passover
traditions of dining and observing together. MARK LENNIHAN/AP“The Quran says trials will
come and to be prepared for
them. ... If we know trials are
coming, that’s where faith is
supposed to kick in.”
Omar Ricci,
Islamic Center of Southern CaliforniaAs Palm Sunday ceremonies kick off
the start of Holy Week, the coronavirus
pandemic has forced religious institu-
tions and worshippers to scale back to
practice social distancing and heed or-
ders that prohibit large gatherings.
Normally, thousands of people con-
gregate in the Vatican to observe Palm
Sunday in an outdoor Mass. Pope Fran-
cis instead held Mass Sunday in St. Pe-
ter’s Basilica in front of his aides, a few
invited prelates, nuns and laypeople.
Each commanded his or her own pew,
and they sat far apart to follow social
distancing directives aimed at minimiz-
ing the risk of spreading the virus. A
male choir sang hymns but also prac-
ticed social distancing.
“The tragedy we are experiencing
summons us to take seriously the things
that are serious and not to be caught up
in those that matter less, to rediscover
that life is of no use if not used to serve
others,” Francis said in his homily.
Palm Sunday is the first service of
Holy Week, which concludes with East-
er on April 12. This year, without any
public observers and in St. Peter’s
Square, Francis will preside over the
Good Friday Way of the Cross proces-sion, which is typically a candlelit cere-
mony held at Rome’s Colosseum.
In Jerusalem, thousands of pilgrims
typically participate in a Palm Sunday
march, but this year, it was limited to a
small group of Franciscan monks andRoman Catholic faithful. The clerics
threw olive branches to onlookers
perched on their balconies in Jerusa-
lem’s Christian Quarter in the Old City.
Customarily, worshipers carry palm
fronds and olive branches – which rep-
resent hope – from the top of the Mount
of Olives and march into Jerusalem.
At the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
where Christians believe Jesus was cru-
cified and resurrected, Archbishop Pier-
battista Pizzaballa held a service closed
to the public.
There are seven confirmed coronavi-
rus cases in Vatican City and more than
8,000 in Israel, where there have been
48 deaths, according to the Johns Hop-
kins University data dashboard.
In the USA, first lady Melania Trump
canceled the White House Easter Egg
Roll this year “out of an abundance of
caution.” Many churches have quickly
shifted their operations to accommo-
date online streaming of services. Many
children could go without dyeing Easter
eggs. Prices skyrocketed because of
panic buying, leading the Department
of Agriculture to say egg “offerings are
very limited and insufficient to meet the
current level of need.”
Contributing: The Associated PressA different normal for Palm Sunday
Christians adapt
traditions in Holy Week
Lorenzo Reyes
USA TODAY
The Rev. Bud Roland leads Mass at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Austin,
Texas, on Palm Sunday as Don Prince, left, streamed the Mass in the chapel.
JAY JANNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN VIA USA TODAY NETWORK