It was announced that the hundred case of the coronavirus was confirmed in Hokkaido, Japan, this week. We have had three deaths so far, just in this prefecture. Local schools will be shut down to the end of the month now, and the Japanese government is preparing to announce a state of emergency tomorrow. The effects of the virus are real, and there is no sign of containment yet.
This situation has made people reevaluate different aspects of their life. In the West, the concept of distributed work is getting and a fresh wave of interest from companies that thought it was not possible for them. Matt (the CEO of Automattic) shares his thought around this in his post Coronavirus and the Remote Work Experiment No One Asked For.
Automattic decided to cancel all business related travel this month, but the day-to-day operations of the company have remained pretty much the same. The company exists with no central office, and there is very little face-to-face contact between colleagues, or even with customers. We do have video sessions with customers, and regular hangouts with colleagues over Zoom. These interactions have become even more valuable, as more people around the world are advised to stay at home.
At church, too, we’ve officially started broadcasting our services live over YouTube. The church now has a brand new YouTube channel: ?????????????. It was always a dream to live stream the church services one day. I guess God used this situation to get us moving on that dream and make it a reality.
You never know what life will throw at you. There is a lot we take for granted, that really hinges on a very delicate cumulation of circumstances. For example, I’m not one who fancies window shopping very much. But after being in the house for so long, even the thought of one day getting out and walking around a nearby mall sounds appealing. I never disliked walking around the shops with my wife. But now, I will appreciate it much more, knowing it isn’t a pastime we can just do whenever we want (like I used to think). Even these small opportunities in life, those that we take for granted, should be treasured and looked after, because you never know when they will be suddenly taken away.
God has a plan. Nothing like what I had planned for this year, to be honest. But I know that He will work all things together for good to them that love Him. I look for others I can share this truth with, in a society mounting with uncertainties.