Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2020

quickly and broadly through social media, even while research continues on an unknown pandemic. We see disagreement over whether this is genuinely a pandemic, can you contract the virus through touching surfaces, how helpful are masks, how deadly is the virus, should we test everyone or only the symptomatic, can it be caught multiple times, do asymptomatic COVID carriers spread the disease, and more. To make matters worse, some employ various data as political weapons. Who really knows what is true? This is where Philippians 2:3 helps. We don’t have all the answers, but we know the One who does. Our leadership team has been praying for God to grant us wisdom from above. At the same time, we have assembled our own cast of “Avengers” to help us make it through this year. These experts form our COVID Advisory Response Effort or “CARE” team. Two members of this team successfully navigated the 2009 H1N1 flu virus on campus, with about 350 cases at one time, and another is an infectious disease expert. As a leadership team, we want to remain humble knowing that we do not have all the answers while seeking wisdom in a multitude of counselors (Prov. 11:14). Philippians 2:3 also encourages personal humility. We should never demonstrate selfish ambition. I find myself sometimes saying, “I hate masks, and I really hate singing in one.” But God’s Word reminds me that it is not about me, and I don’t know the data well enough. So with humility, I must admit what I don’t know. We request that everyone remain humble enough to exercise personal responsibility, physically distance themselves from others, wear a mask, wash their hands regularly, and keep their personal spaces clean. 2. CONSIDER OTHERS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN OURSELVES Perhaps like many of you, I have been surprised by who takes wearing a mask and keeping physical distance seriously and who brushes it off as no big deal. When talking with others, one thing I have found is that I don’t always know about underlying health conditions or conditions of family members. I even find myself taking more precautions than I would like to take. I have family members in the high-risk category and a mother-in-law in her 70s who is currently living with us. I cannot afford to bring the virus home, so I exercise extra caution. I have talked with faculty members who have family members at home who fall into the high-risk category as well. They desire to teach students face-to-face, and they know that education in person greatly exceeds an online model, but these faculty members must be careful not to harm those nearest and dearest to them. Students and friends who may know someone as typically fearless, may find that because of unknown issues, that same person takes this virus very seriously. We simply don’t know whether someone near us has underlying health issues or family members with compromised health. For that reason, we should consider others more significant than ourselves and keep physical distance, wear masks, clean our spaces, wash our hands frequently, and use personal responsibility to avoid contact with others if we do not feel well. Considering others affects our campus community in another way. Because we are isolating at the first sign of symptoms, and because we are quarantining all close contacts before a positive diagnosis, we need to consider others if we feel the least bit ill. A headache, a fever, something just not right means that we tell a friend to keep their distance today. No one wants to be in quarantine. And the best way to avoid it is to stay 6 feet away, limit close interactions to less than 15 minutes, and make good use of the weather outside during this pleasant season. We want to do our best to provide a healthy work and study environment for our entire campus community while maintaining a vibrant residential experience for our students. Considering others in our community can go a long way toward a successful semester. 3. LOVE FOR OTHERS Philippians states that we should look out not only to our interests but for the interests of others. Christ modeled this for us when the Savior humbled Himself even to the point We don’t have all the answers, but we know the One who does. 4 | Cedarville Magazine