If It Weren’t 2020

By: Tim Elmore

The year started well, with our work and our money
Our weather was warming, and our spring became sunny.
Our life was quite normal, and resources were plenty.
And it might have continued…if it weren’t 2020.

As the spring unfolded, we got new direction,
We were told to go home to avoid an infection.
It was COVID-19 and it spread through the nations.
No one knew how to stop it, causing loads of frustrations.

Our economy tanked; tons of jobs were soon lost,
And those that continued—they came at great cost.
All events were diminished, and our troubles were many
We all kept on wishing that it weren’t 2020!

And then there were protests on the streets of our cities,
We saw police conduct that was not at all pretty.
There were marches and signs and windows were shattered,
As folks sought for ways to say: Black Lives Mattered.

If that’s not enough, we had an election,
That divided us more than the COVID infection.
Both sides were fighting; emotions soared like a comet,
The political commercials made us all want to vomit.

At this point I wondered just what God was doing,
How could He allow all the angst we saw brewing?
But then He just whispered to my mind that was dull:
“I am using this year for a grand wake up call.”

The COVID infection made us value our health,
And we saw what we owned—was actually wealth.
It made us appreciate our relationships with friends
As we witnessed folks mourn when lives came to an end.

And the protests turned out to be helpful intrusions:
Of our need to work harder at racial inclusion.
Some think they divided our frail population,
But in truth we joined hands across our great nation.

Although we were blindsided when we started this year,
Perhaps we woke up from our blindness and fear.
And to think we could’ve missed these blessings of plenty
If we’d all wished away this strange year: 2020.