Even in quarantine, worry helps no one

For the first time, I have the distinct pleasure of writing this column while in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure.

It’s amusing to me that people on both sides of the political aisle have been speculating for months now what “Biden’s America” will look like, and then practically the moment the presidency changed hands, for me “Biden’s America” looked like several people close to me contracting the coronavirus.

That’s obviously just a joke, as the two events have nothing to do with one another. But I did find it ironic that after months spent admittedly waiting on the edge of my seat for Donald Trump to leave office — please note the lack of excitement for his particular replacement — the day of his departure would be immediately dwarfed in my personal life by other events.

My wife and I have tried to be careful and considerate as the coronavirus spread in our state has gotten worse these past few months. We really don’t go anywhere other than work. We usually do grocery pickup, we only eat out via to-go or delivery, we’ve been streaming church services from home, etc.

We don’t stick with these at times difficult patterns only for our own safety, but also for those to whom we might unknowingly spread the virus.

Especially with a vaccine on the horizon, these choices have seemed like worthy sacrifices.

And after all that, gosh darn it, all we did was have one person over for dinner one time, on her birthday! Surely COVID-19 could take a break for this one occasion.

But of course, people she had visited over the weekend tested positive for the virus a few days later, and then so did she.

So after all of our precautions, my wife and I became direct contacts and are now in quarantine.

As the Beatles once sang, “I don’t mean to sound complainin’.” This pandemic has affected millions of people in more terrible ways than this.

But as our first direct brush with COVID-19 (as far as we know, anyway), there’s still some potential for anxiety to thrive. While I can do almost all of my job from home, it’s still an inconvenience for everyone involved. And as a toddler teacher, my wife can’t really work from home at all and is understandably feeling guilty for leaving her school shorthanded.

So as the first full day of quarantine dawned Thursday morning, I cracked open my Bible to see what the Lord might have to say. I simply followed the Bible reading plan that corresponds with my church’s current sermon series, so I didn’t pick the passage myself.

But boy, did it hit me in the gut.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on,” Jesus said in the gospel of Matthew. “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

While daily provision wasn’t exactly my cause of worry at the moment, being reminded to let go of my anxiety for my own life was still something I definitely needed to hear. But just to be even more direct, Jesus says this just two verses later:

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?”

Message received, Lord. Despite the situations we may face, worry never does us any good. That doesn’t mean we should take serious things lightly, but dwelling on them in our hearts and minds only makes the problems grow.

That’s something I’ll try to remember as I keep writing from home for the next few days.

Caleb Daniel is the Ruston Daily Leader’s Digital News Editor. Caleb is a Louisiana Tech University graduate who covers the Lincoln Parish Police Jury and schools for the Ruston Leader.