March 4th, 2021: Overcome Evil with Good
Many businesses have been generous and giving during this pandemic time. They are not always big businesses. My wife and I were at our favorite Vietnamese grocery store last week when we saw a staff person was trying to help someone who needed some help with free grocery. He was not able to communicate well in English, and he was not from Vietnam. She didn't get mad at him although they were busy. She kept telling him not to worry, and she was in his position not too far back.
We then heard about some fancy hotels and how they have been gouging people because they have to check-in at their quarantine facility. The government has assigned these hotels to operate these modern and pandemic versions of concentration camps. These businesses should be ashamed of themselves. Not everyone who has to travel is wealthy, and many have been under a lot of stress due to family situations. Taking advantage of people during such a time like this is quite unthinkable.
We have to be careful about what is appropriate and what is insanity. It happens when governments are not thoughtful and accountable for their own decisions. Being quarantined is one thing. Being robbed and treated as criminals is another. What happens to the presumption of innocence. Assuming that everyone is going to ignore the order of being self-quarantined is the first mistake. I know people who voluntarily put themselves in quarantine after traveling for business because it is the right thing to do. We should not use the pandemic as means to gain power and control over others.
I am grateful for the contrast I saw this past week. It reveals the difference between evil and good.
Romans 12: 21
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
1 Peter 5: 8
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."