12/31/2020
for such a time as 2020
in the book of Esther, Mordecai suggests that Esther was placed in a position where she could help others for just such a time as the disaster her people were facing
while we all agree 2020 has been a hard year with worldwide disease, losing so many people we love and admire, innumerable personal and business failures, isolation and precautions, cancellations of much we love and need, school disruptions and political unrest,
it has also been a year of opportunity for courage and resilience, an opportunity to step up and serve
people from every walk of life have refused to let grief over deaths of friends and family, the daily fear of disease, disappointments of businesses closing and lost employment, fears of national and world turmoil stop them from moving into harm's way and making a difference
nurses, respiratory therapists, midlevel providers, administrators, physicians and many other medical staff in our nation's and world's hospitals have chosen to risk their lives to help those in need, even when faced with shortages and the unknown
but it's not just there...
teachers have braved threats of illness, tackled new technologies to keep teaching our children
grocery stores and restaurants have braved losses, shortages, and threats of disease to provide food for our communities
emergency personnel of all kinds have kept people safe and risked their health at the same time
churches have adjusted and found new ways to meet physical and spiritual needs of their communities
political leaders have made hard decisions to protect and get supplies to their citizens
bankers have spent long hours helping businesses and individuals stave off failure
parents have juggled jobs and shortages and flexed with the needs of their children
scientists and business people worked at breakneck speed and skill to bring a vaccine to the world... and on and on
while we have always enjoyed serving our few thousand patients, when I went down with life-threatening COVID illness for a month in April, I came back to my medical team eager to get back and serve, willing to test and treat our ill patients daily in the parking lot (yesterday in the cold/wind/rain), answer countless questions for patients and coach them through illness, find people the best help and understanding and resources they needed at the best price; it made us more alive to know we could uniquely meet the needs of the community in this time; it wasn't a time to make money, it was a time to lay up more treasure in heaven
the stories of heroism in 2020 are innumerable; it bodes well for victories in 2021
so while we can't wait to put 2020 behind, our courage and resourcefulness and kindness were for such a time as this
tim martindale
