DAY 8 - OVERCOMING FEAR IN TIME OF COVID-19

Taken from "The Diary of Anne Frank" - a book of writings from the Dutch language diary of kept by a girl young while she was hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of Netherlands.  She knew she was living in a borrowed time for discovery of their hiding place would surely land them to the concentration camps for Jews. Holed up and cut off from the outside world, the 13 year old Jewish girl, the Franks and another family, faced hunger, boredom and constant cruelties of  living in confined quarters, and ever-present threat of discovery and death.

We are no near to their miseries, but just the same, outside our homes the danger is real. The day after also is tinged with uncertainty and fear of catching the virus. We have to cling on to whatever trace of beauty and good things we can think of so as to dampen our fears.

Day 8 is here and the total shows 350 affected, 25 deaths
Life is in God's hand, we have to be strong despite the threats
Like a thief in the night we are not sure when they will strike 
We could borrow the courage of the young girl, Anne Frank

Hidden in the attic,  lived two years frightened of daily peril
She turned her fear into a prose, thought of freedom so unreal
No right to exist,  her only crime was having been born a Jew
Yet she carved a niche in world history reserved only for a few

Many times in the past, it was prophesied the world will end
Small pox decimated the 90 percent of the Mayans and Aztecs
The Black Death, Spanish Flue and Cholera has killed millions
So too the Great War and World War 2 ravaged many nations

Then came more after the war, the Asian Flue, AIDS and H1N1
Now its Bird Flue and Corona virus that we have to overcome
Men have survived before, maybe millions will get sick and die
Can't lose hope, some will survive, in God's hands our destiny lie

We don't have the answers right now but surely there will be
Men were designed to handle every kind of nature's mystery
As fear crept deep into your heart, kneel down, look up above
Pray, surrender and what will happens next ... He will decide

The Bible says there's a time for everything, a time for every season

A time to be born, a time to die, a time to weep, and a time  to mourn
So is a time to laugh, a time to sing our favorite songs, a time to dance
And with our borrowed time, to pray and hope for one more chance

Just like Anne Frank, I too dreamed of living even when I am gone...
Had I made a difference, will some remember the good things I've done
I've lived a good life but I pray for more time, before I finish my run
A chance to make up for lapses I made when I missed to the right turns