Some days I am stunned by the evil that has come out of our response to the pandemic.

• Economic chaos and an incredibly difficult road back to stability, if we can pull it off.
• An entire generation at comfort with a severe restriction of freedom, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of religion, and to some extent the freedom of speech.
• An entire generation uneducated.

I could go on, but it is too depressing. We sort-of, kinda tried to protect everyone, often at the expense of protecting those truly at desperate risk. None of this evil was intended, I don’t think. It is easy to attribute intent after that fact. But I think this situation arose out of a sincere, if misguided, effort to protect the health and well-being of people.

Moreover, I do not think the efforts at the beginning resulted in this evil. The evil arose from a failure to recognize and respond to the costs of pandemic policy. No one knew exactly what would happen, or how severe it would be. But it quickly became apparent that 1) the disease while bad, was not as bad as projected and 2) the costs of the policy outweighed the costs of coping with the bad disease. But pride, bad communications, and to some extent for a limited few profit prevented the policies from being re-evaluated in the light of the new information.

Evil is rarely intended. Rather it is born of a strange brew of our ignorance and pride. Very few of us are mass murders or serial killers. Yet any of us can create great evil simply by being just a little too selfish. That’s what makes this passage both powerful and difficult:

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is so easy when we are the victims of evil to lash out in some fashion, cathartic as well. But such generates more evil, not less. Such makes evil common, not rare.

This Sunday morning, I pray for the rarity of evil.

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