“Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have called you by name; you are mine.”

— Isaiah 43:1

A recent Facebook post reported rather sad news coming out of Davenport, Iowa. The Chief Medical Officer of Genesis Hospital System in Davenport, Kurt Andersen, issued a statement regarding behavior at a COVID testing site. Dr. Andersen's statement avoided naming specific incidents but suggested something more serious had taken place.

Someone who commented on the post reported a person attempted to "run over the nurse working at the testing site." I have no idea if this statement is true. I can glean from the information provided that anger, fear, and frustration are getting the best of us.

Local medical personnel in the Twin Cities have shared stories with me of hospital confrontations. COVID patients refuse treatments and opt instead for screaming and yelling at doctors and nurses. The behavior is causing a growing number of people to leave the profession altogether.

Despite the reports, I cannot believe this behavior is the norm, and I refuse to believe it. We are better than that, and maybe we just need to be reminded of that fact. While this is true, I still feel like Marvin Gaye; what's going on?

“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution. ”

— Kahlil Gibran

These reports of bad behavior reminded me of an article I once read in an American Camping Association magazine. Bob Ditter, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in child, adolescent, and family therapy, responded to a question posed by a camp director. The camp director was looking for guidance on handling cases of aggression.

Bob Ditter described a child throwing off their life jacket and swimming across a raging river. The camper then climbed a rock face on the other side of the river. The child yelled at the counselor and threatened to jump into shallow water filled with rocks from a ledge in the cliff.

He shared how the child knows the behavior is both wrong and dangerous. What the child is doing is testing the counselor. Can I (the camper) trust you (the counselor) to save me from myself? The lesson remained forged in my mind because it clearly resonated with my experience working with people.

I wonder if this is taking place among the adults in our culture. They are afraid and feel alone. Maybe their bad behavior is a test. Can they trust anyone other than themselves? Because they know they are powerless to what is happening in and around them.

Isaiah's words are directed to a community gripped by the same kind of isolating fear. He shares with them God's beautiful words,

Don't fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

when through the rivers, they won't sweep over you.

When you read this article, you can choose to be saddened by the ever-present anger flowing through our culture. Or, you can take comfort that you have been named by God despite everything. You cannot be destroyed by the waters of anger and hatred. I think the second option is better. I hope you do too.

Click to read Isaiah 43: 1-7