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Peace Is Discovered When Locked Doors Of Fear Are Opened

by Eric Elkin

“Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side. ”

— John 20:19

The other day I met Donna Nash, a doomsday prepper. We did not meet in person, I just stumbled across her story while reading the news. She was described as "a vibrant, blond-haired blue-eyed suburban mom..." The kind of mom who "had chocolate chip cookies …waiting for her children when they got home from school." Today, however, some consider her the Warren Buffet of the prepper community.

Wealth has nothing to do with the Buffet comparison. Fans of the National Geographic show, "Doomsday Preppers," are crediting Donna Nash with seeing the COVID-19 pandemic long before it happened. She spent her life preparing for a virus pandemic. Correction, she spent her life worrying about a pandemic. It's only been the last 15 years or so that she has prepared for it.

Her story first appeared on "Doomsday Preppers" back in 2012. If you watch the clip of the show, you will be amazed. Items you never heard of before March 1, 2020, Donna was storing up in her house way back then. She was buying large quantities of exam gloves, foot covers, and N95 masks. She was creating pandemic kits and storing them in her basement warehouse.

Donna clearly fears death. Her fear of death also caused her to fear life. Her large stockpile of supplies could equip a hospital. It made me wonder, did she share her supplies with her neighbors this last month. It seems reasonable to think she locked her doors out of fear. Strangely, sitting in her living room was a large portrait of Jesus.

“Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is a freedom.”

— Marilyn Ferguson

Now consider the nuns of Philadelphia, PA, in 1918. When the Spanish Flu Pandemic hit Philadelphia, the Archbishop offered the use of all the archdiocese buildings as temporary hospitals. He also enlisted all priests, non-cloistered nuns, and members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to offer assistance and care for influenza victims. In total, 2,000 nuns served the sick during that pandemic.

The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament went into hospitals and served as nurses when the hospitals became depleted of staff. They went into the poorer neighborhoods to care for the sick. They bathed them, cleaned their house, prepared food, and dispensed their medicine.

The Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis staffed three different hospitals. The hospitals were each run by the order, but the nuns themselves had little experience being nurses. Still, they mixed medicines, took temperatures, and prepared food for the sick. They worked 12-hour shifts, with many of them getting sick, some even dying.

It is significant to remember why these women served. They did not enter those hospitals or poor neighborhoods because the Archbishop ordered them. These women were called to serve Christ. More importantly, because of the resurrection, they did not fear death.

In Donna Nash's defense, she is not a nun. She did not make a vow to serve the poor and sick. Her response, while extreme, is more the norm than the nuns of 1918 Philadelphia. Protection of ourselves and our family is not necessarily a bad thing. However, when that sense of security becomes fear of the world, something big is lost.

Each nun in 1918 described the joy they discovered in serving those in deepest need at a time of crisis. Even the doctors described how their presence changed the atmosphere of the hospital. If you lock yourself behind a closed door, you never experience that level of joy.

The current Shelter-In order is not the same thing as locking ourselves behind a closed door. We are being asked to take a precaution to save our neighbors and ourselves. A time will come when we will return to normal routines. When that time comes, we need to remember peace is discovered in those who open the locked door and serve those in need.

Click to read John 20: 19-31