Rev. Klockers: We have lost a lot in the past few months

Have you ever wondered how you might respond to a future catastrophic event?

You might need to work through a whole horde of issues on how to manage under such difficult circumstances.

However, if that dreaded day actually did arrive, how might current reality change what you had originally planned?

You would discover the difference between thinking about something and actually living through it.

In the past, I’ve wondered what it must have been like during the span of 1918-19. Those years were during World War I and were marked by the far-reaching spread of the Spanish flu.

Obviously, there are many differences between those days and today. Medically speaking, we are far more advanced. Our understanding of vaccines has grown significantly, and we have since discovered antibiotics. These are just two of many examples.

Yet, some things have remained the same.

For one, during the Spanish flu, and today’s COVID-19, people have given up things.

Even a person who has largely disregarded recommended public health safeguards has still given up some things.

There has been a slew of events that have been canceled or significantly altered. This would include no grand graduating ceremony for the senior class of our high school. It would include not seeing older relatives and those who have certain health conditions. If you wanted to fly to Europe, that is simply not happening at the moment. Going to a movie theater is not a current reality. If you need surgery, there is a likelihood it will be postponed. The list goes on.

So many important events spoiled. So many little things currently not possible.

It is true, you really do not know what you are missing until it is taken away.

I have also heard it said, “love what you have before life teaches you to love what you have lost.”

When it comes right down to it, one might wonder if everything can be lost?

There is good news, however:

Luke 15:4-6 says, “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’”

Thankfully, God’s love remains, even when we may feel like a lost sheep.

That cannot be taken away.

Walter is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Moses Lake and has served as parish pastor for more than 30 years.