"New Normal" & The "Kingdom of God"
I have heard a lot through the news about what the media has been trying to describe as the "new normal", which prefigures the 'before' and 'after' the Pandemic Crisis. It's trying to print in our minds that this crisis determined a "new time" in our history as humanity! The fact is no, the crisis does not determine anything in this sense, as it is not the first time in human history that we have faced a crisis of this magnitude, taking into account the many pandemics suffered in the past, never determining a "New Era".
Just to remind you, let's describe some of the pandemic crises that have overwhelmed and decimated many lives in our history, remembering that none of them marked a "before" and "after", understanding the current situation as intentional, belittling the value of life: "Crown of Creation" (SL 8:1-9; 2 COR 5:17-21), to the detriment of political and economic interests of the platform that represents the interests of the "New World Order", as signs of the deteriorating articulation of these powers.
In the past, we have had pandemic crises since the early days. It is difficult to describe the first crises, which started in remote times, related to the domestication of animals and their contact with humanity. According to Dr. Luiz Bustamante, professor of history and pediatrician, "Pests and epidemics started in the Neolithic period, 10,000 years ago, with the domestication of animals and the invention of agriculture". This takes us to periods that we cannot properly describe!
He continues his argument by saying that "... contact with wild viruses and domestic animals led to the first epidemics. The storage of grains in storerooms favored the proliferation of rats that, in turn, transmit diseases such as the bubonic plague. Flu originated from endemic viruses in chickens, and the human smallpox virus resulted from the mutation of the bovine smallpox virus". This helps us to get an idea of how viruses have adapted and developed, to the point of infecting humans.
The "Pandemic Crises" in history that victimized humanity are Plague Antonia (Rome, AD 165), which caused the death of approximately 5 million people in Asia Minor (Turkey), Egypt, Greece, and Italy, whose cause it is unknown; Plague of Justinian (Egypt, AD 541-542), which caused the death of approximately 25 million people, starting in Egypt, spreading in the Middle East and Constantinople, spreading over Syria, Europe, and Asia Minor. Cause: "Bubonic Plague";
Black Death (Asia, AD 1346-1353), which caused the death of approximately 75 to 200 million people, probably started in Asia, spreading throughout the region of Europe and Africa. Cause: "Bubonic Plague"; Third Cholera Pandemic (India, AD 1852-1860), which caused the death of more than 1 million people, originating in India and by the Ganges River reached Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. From a list of seven cholera pandemics, the third is considered the worst. Cause: "Cholera";
Russian Flu (Russia, 1889-1890 D.C.), caused the death of approximately 1.5 million people, which started in Central Asia (Turkistan), spreading in Athabasca, Canada, and Greenland. Cause: "Influenza A subtype H3N8"; Sixth Cholera Epidemic India, year (1910-1911 AD), caused the death of approximately 800 thousand people, originated in India, followed by the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, and Eastern Europe. It marked history for having arrived in the American Continent. Cause: "Cholera";
Spanish Flu (the USA, 1918 D.C.), caused the death of approximately 20 to 50 Million people, started in the USA and was spread in Europe. During World War I, censors "made up" the first reports of the disease, minimizing records (location and mortality) in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the USA. Predominant documents reported the effects of the pandemic in Spain, which by remaining neutral left the impression of being the cradle of the pandemic. Cause: "Influenza A H1N1";
Asian Flu (China, 1956-1958 D.C.), which caused the death of approximately more than 2 Million people, started in China, spreading through Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. Cause: "Influenza A (H2N2 subtype)"; Hong Kong Flu (China, 1968 AD), which caused the death of approximately 1 million people, started in China, spreading through Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and Australia. In a short time, it reached Europe and, finally, the United States. Cause: "Influenza H3N2 subtype";
AIDS pandemic (Africa, 1976 AD to date), which has infected and killed more than 38 million people, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. Probably transmitted by monkeys, was considered the first pandemic of the 20th Century spreading globally, mainly through sexual relations. AIDS still has no cure, but there is a whole preventive policy, as well as treatment based on antiretrovirals. Cause: "HIV";
COVID-19 (China, 2019-2020 D.C.), which has already caused the contamination and death of a total of more than 1,060,748 people globally, started in China in December 2019, a new coronavirus discovered in Wuhan, China. Its high speed of propagation and numerous cases of death has caused the World Health Organization - WHO to declare "pandemic" status, called Coronavirus Disease - COVID-19. The cases continue to spread across the globe. Cause: "Coronavirus SARS-Cov-2".
This description makes it clear that since early times we have dealt with pandemics, but "before" and "after" had never been spoken of as a milestone in history after a pandemic, as well as a "New Normal", as if that outlined a "new era" in history. The fact is the media wants to establish this milestone, crossed by what we can call "interests of powers", a platform that has been built in an attempt to establish a "New World Order".
The truth is they want to print this "new normal" as the "New Year Zero" inaugurated through political articulations of dominant international interests, with the intentional release of a virus that not only minimizes the world's population density but opens doors for a new "political-economic-world" leadership articulated between these powers, so that a "new way of being human" can be established.
There is still a lot of "water to flow under this bridge" and the one who has ears will 'hear' what the Spirit has to say. The fact is the "YEAR ZERO" has already begun in the history of mankind, as well as the "new way of being human" established, since the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the establishment of HIS KINGDOM on earth, which is in full swing as I write this article, which in fact divided the history into "BEFORE" & "AFTER", DETERMINING the beginning of a new era in history.
The lack of creativity is represented like a "copiest" and evidenced in this attempt to establish a "new era", a new "before" and "after", of a way of being human that does not represent the interests of the KINGDOM OF GOD. The second stage of our "new era" as humanity is clearly described in the SECOND COMING of the Lord Jesus, who will assume HIS throne and fully restore our condition, as well as mother earth, from the atrocities suffered by the victimizing effects of our fallen nature.
Until then, we still have a lot of work ahead of us, in a daily struggle against ourselves, our fallen nature, as well as the representation of the ETERNAL KINGDOM, its power and transforming effects in all spheres of the influence of cultures, in a global extension of the transformational power of the INCARNATE WORD, of a kingdom that is not limited to the geographic-political-economic field, but extends in us and through us, each one representing this building (Church) of unshakable structures!
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!
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Bibliography:
- Zaramela, Luciana. "The worst pandemics in history", May 20, 2020.
- WorldMeter. "2019 Coronavirus Pandemic Updates", October 8, 2020.