In November my husband began searching online for a board game to buy the family for Christmas. He reviewed lots of games and finally decided on Pandemic. Yep. Pandemic. I’ve played it dozens of times since late December. Unlike real life, Pandemic is an entertaining and engaging game. One of the best things about it is that it is cooperative, not competitive. Each player has a specific role, and you must work together in order to cure the world of disease. Everyone wins when each of four diseases are cured. Or, everyone loses when there are too many outbreaks or when there are too many cases of a disease across the globe or when you run out of resources.
Two to four players can play, and to begin you randomly choose one of seven “roles.” These include the scientist who cures things faster than anyone else, the researcher who shares knowledge, the quarantine specialist who prevents the spread of disease, the dispatcher who helps get players where they need to be on the map, the operations specialist who can build research stations where needed and travel easier than other players, the contingency planner who holds extra cards in reserve in case they are needed, and the medic who treats disease with more efficiency than anyone else.
To win the game, players must cure each of the four diseases (represented with yellow, blue, black, and red “disease cubes”). But it’s more fun trying to eradicate each disease once they are cured. To do that you must remove all the disease cubes from the map. It’s harder to eradicate all four diseases than it is to cure them, but we have fun trying. We have discovered that the best way to do it is to have a medic among us. In fact, we decided (Jacks’ house rules) that once we’ve cured all the diseases (i.e., once we’ve already won the game), we all automatically become medics. That way we can all treat disease more efficiently and increase our chance of eradicating them all before we’re out of moves.
We got this game for Christmas 2019 with no idea we’d be experiencing a global pandemic by March of 2020. The game is clever, and it has given me an appreciation for the people in their various real-world roles as researchers, contingency planners, medics, etc., trying to mitigate the sickness and death caused by COVID-19. I honor all their hard work and sleepless nights while all I have to do is stay home, work online, and play board games.
In addition to my increased appreciation for how to manage a global pandemic, the game has given me a new way to think about my role in treating the current pandemic of fear. As in the game, there is a difference between a disease being cured and eradicated. Our world suffers from the virus of fear. As I’ve written previously, a virus is a pretender. It mimics living cells but has no life of its own. Fear is a virus that multiplies rapidly and interferes with our ability to breathe. But we don’t have to let it get out of control. We can stop it in its tracks. We have the cure for fear.
His name is Jesus. Fear is incompatible with the perfect love of Christ. I am publishing this post during the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, 2020. Easter is the season when Christians recognize and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like the tiny blocks on the game board that are removed easily by the medic, the stumbling blocks of fear, sin, sickness, and disease are easily removed because of Jesus. The veil separating us from the Father was torn in two when Jesus breathed his last (Matthew 27:51). In one earth-shaking moment, he removed the stumbling blocks separated us from the Father’s love. Now we have free access to the perfect and complete love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
Right now, Jesus is calling all medics to join in the effort to treat the virus of fear and to spread the curative love of Christ. Through us, He desires that all should be saved and come unto a knowledge of the truth of His love and mercy (1 Timothy 2:4). We must reach as many people as we can, across town and across the globe, with the knowledge that by His death and resurrection, Jesus has provided a way for each person on the planet to be saved, healed, and delivered of all fear. Amid a real pandemic that has most of the world on pause, what better time to be engaged as a spiritual medic? Spread the love of Jesus any way you can think of. Whatever your sphere of influence, you have the cure if you have Jesus. Make the most of every opportunity. Call someone. Send an encouraging text. Pray for the cashier at the grocery store. Send thank you notes in the name of Jesus to first responders and doctors and nurses at your local hospital. Jesus is calling all medics to treat others with love. Will you answer the call?
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