An Alabama Covid-19 Statistic

Darwin Little was a man who struggled to cope with constant pain and numerous other health issues. He had been disabled for years and lived alone in his childhood home after his mother's death in 2006. Darwin loved sports and God, and he eventually attended a Fundamentalist seminary in Florida and was ordained to preach the gospel. Always the practical one, however, Darwin worked at various other jobs over the years to make a living; and his dream of being a minister slowly slipped away. And, like many other children who grow to adulthood as the products of divorce, Darwin went on to have three failed marriages of his own. Even so, one of those marriages produced the love of his life - a son (whose disability only endeared him more to his father).

Now, as a consequence of the circumstances of his life, Darwin became bitter and angry with God. Over the years, he became prickly and increasingly isolated from family and friends. Indeed, towards the end of his life, outside of an occasional visit from his son, his only contact with the outside world came in the form of a nightly phone call with his surviving sister and myself (and an occasional phone call with one of his uncles), a weekly food delivery from a local restaurant, and a once a month trip to the pain clinic for medication. Hence, when the pandemic reached the United States, most of us were fairly confident that Darwin's isolation would protect him from the virus.

Even so, when the vaccines finally became available, his sister and I encouraged him to follow our example and get the shot. Darwin, however, lived in a state (Alabama) where the virus was not taken seriously at first, and he was consequently exposed to some of the most virulent forms of the ignorance and antipathy extant within the United States regarding mask wearing, social distancing and mRNA vaccines. Nevertheless, even in this environment, Darwin never was against masks or vaccines. In his case, he simply felt that his isolation would render vaccination unnecessary for him.

In the meantime, my almost nightly conversations with Darwin about God, Christianity and the Bible had produced a discernable change in Darwin's attitude towards things spiritual. At first, he was perplexed by the fact that I didn't challenge his bitterness and anger toward God. I didn't launch into an apologetics tirade or attempt to "defend" God and the Church. I simply listened, and then we talked. We talked about how Fundamentalism had perverted our understanding of God, Jesus Christ and the Bible. We talked about how the advice of Job's friends typified the approach of humankind to the grief and suffering of one of their own. We talked about the fact that God has NOT provided answers to all of the questions that we have about why things happen the way that they do. And, finally, we talked about how many Christians have recreated God in their own image, and how weak and limited their creations have turned out to be (especially when compared to what Scripture actually reveals about the real nature of God).

Unfortunately, Darwin had to make a trip to the local emergency room after experiencing excruciating shoulder pain and numbness. Within just a few days of that visit to the emergency room, Darwin collapsed in his home and laid in the floor for many hours until his uncle accidentally discovered him there (he had brought him a plate of food from a family reunion that Darwin had been unable to attend). His uncle immediately summoned an ambulance, and Darwin was shortly on his way to the region's most important hospital. And, after being admitted, he was soon diagnosed as having been infected with Covid-19. Over the course of the next three weeks, Darwin's condition rapidly deteriorated. Indeed, the decision was finally made to place him on a ventilator to help him breathe and increase the level of oxygen in his bloodstream.

Before that happened, however, one of his nurses arranged a Zoom meeting with his sister and his son. As a consequence of that kindness, Darwin's last half hour of consciousness before they placed him on that ventilator was spent looking at his beloved son's face and listening to his sister read the Bible and sing a few of the hymns which they had sung together as children at the little Baptist church which they had attended near their home.

He died a few days later. Darwin was now officially an Alabama pandemic statistic. But Darwin was NOT an impersonal statistic. Like many thousands of other folks around the country and globe, he had been a living, breathing person with a life of his own and folks who loved him before contracting and succumbing to this deadly virus!

At his funeral yesterday, I began with a reading of a few Scriptures that were particularly meaningful to Darwin. One of them came from Paul's letter to the saints of Rome:

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." -- Romans 8:35-39

Afterward, I led his family and friends in the following prayer:

Almighty God,

Thank You for the conversations I enjoyed with Darwin about You, Your Son and the Bible.

Thank You that Darwin came home to You.

We are thankful that, after wandering away from You and traveling through a dark land, like the prodigal son, Darwin returned to You.

In this, Darwin's experience underscored the absolute truth of those wise words that "not all who wander are lost."

Indeed, as Job did three thousand years ago, Darwin came to see that God was great enough to accommodate all of his pain, suffering, anguish, sorrow - and, yes, even his bitterness, anger and questions.

We thank You that Dar's last half hour of consciousness was filled with thoughts of his beloved son, and his sister reading Scripture and singing hymns.

Thank You too for Your great compassion, mercy and forgiveness; and for the knowledge that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover and forgive any sin.

And, finally, we are thankful that You have welcomed Darwin into your loving embrace and into the company of all of those loved ones who have preceded him in death.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we give thanks and pray. Amen.

John Darwin Little was born on October 6, 1958 and died on August 25, 2021.