None of this is simple

I’ve seen lots of talk over the past several weeks about how it’s just old people affected by COVID, or just obese people, or just diabetics, or just people with heart disease, or just smokers, or just those with preexisting conditions of any kind.

Just.

Just your mother, your brother, your best friend.

Just your next door neighbor, your boss, your doctor.

Just.

What a powerful word that is.

How quickly it can diminish or other-ize our fellow humans.

Perhaps it is comforting to think that this disease may not touch us, because we don’t fall into one of the “just” categories.

Perhaps it is a way of dealing with our fear, of placing blame, of imagining that this is all someone else’s problem.

But it’s dicey territory.

Do we really want society to start viewing some of us as less worthy of life? Of love? Of compassion?

Is the wisdom of an 80-year-old less valuable than promise of a 25-year-old?

Is a 40-year-old diabetic worth more than a 70-year-old with no apparent disease history?

Is a 1-year-old with their whole life in front of them more vital than an 18-year-old who has just begun to experience deep friendship, romantic love and a sense of purpose?

Where do we draw these lines?

And, more importantly, who gets to draw them?

These are incredibly complex questions, sometimes forced upon us by tragedy.

And the answers will never be simple.

No matter how badly some of us want them to be.