This thread is sobering and scary. My condolences to all those who've lost family or friends...or have seen lives, their own or others, turned upside down.
To me, the whole thing has a slightly surreal feel to it. I see the reports on this second wave of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Yet life goes on, and my sense is that more and more people are now saying screw it, we can't live this way, we'll take our chances.
It's not the masks. Most people are on board with that. Social distancing too. But when the authorities go back to lockdowns, shutdowns, and making rules on how many family members can gather for Christmas, the effect is counterproductive...the opposite of the supposed objectives.
Personally, I know three friends and have one elderly aunt who got sick. The aunt is still fighting the virus while the three friends recovered, two of them after only mild symptoms.
In our immediate family of six kids, their spouses, and their families (totaling 23 children), nobody has gotten COVID...to our (or their) knowledge. In fact, my wife and I decided back in May to resume normal interaction with all of them and have done so to this day.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all worried...nor do I kid myself about the risk. But I do take comfort from a passage in Matthew's Gospel: Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father's will.