What Do We Want to Recover?

In the last few days I've noticed that one of our local television stations has changed the name of their team of reporters covering the pandemic.  It used to be Coronavirus Crisis Team--now it is Coronavirus Recovery Team.  They are not the only ones using the term recovery with more frequency.  But what does it mean for us to recover?

I looked it up, and discovered that the word "recovery" comes from the French word recoverer, which means "to get back, or to get again"--but what is it we hope to get back?  And do we want still want all of what we had?

Obviously, those who have contracted the virus want to get back their health.  And most certainly we wish that for anyone who has been so impacted.  But there are things we have learned about health in this pandemic that we would do well to continue practicing, even after it has passed from our midst.  Handwashing, for instance.  Most of us don't normally do enough of it.  Early in the whole ordeal I saw a meme that said, "It took a pandemic to get men to wash their hands."  Ouch!  But based on my experiences in public restrooms, I would suggest there is some truth in that!

Just as obviously, those who have lost jobs or had to close their businesses want to get back to work.  And most certainly we wish that for anyone so impacted.  But the massive unemployment has demonstrated how many holes their are in the so-called safety net.  We don't want that back.  It needs to be mended and fixed.

And there are other things we don't want back.  The pollution that hung over large cities and other places as well, that was greatly reduced because we weren't driving so much.  The way we were increasingly distancing ourselves from one another, and failing to interact with friends and family in meaningful ways.  And the list goes on.  Somethings we just don't want to recover--we just don't want back.  But it will take a concerted effort to avoid doing that--a concerted effort to not just fall into the old ways of doing things.

Somethings we want back--somethings we never lost--but other things we would do well to leave behind!