Thankfully, COVID transmission is finally much lower. Oddly, amidst all of the happiness and relief, this transition to the next stage of the pandemic is surprisingly hard. The adrenaline is gone, and I feel exhausted by the past year of events.
In 1983, when I was a student at GC, I wrote my senior paper on the topic of gender. That was three years after Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin overthrew their male boss in the movie "9 to 5." Things have changed! But gender is every bit as important today, and for some new reasons.
In the midst of the heartbreak, tensions and tedium of the pandemic, I am alert to the changes happening within myself and in our society that may form the lasting legacies of this time. Some of these are causes for hope.
This afternoon I do not want to write about cultural divisions, social injustice, the pandemic or even Goshen College. I want to tell you about a man and an octopus.
I thought to myself: If we must live through this ordeal (and indeed, we must), this is the community I want to be a part of.
Goshen College graduate Christian Yoder ’80 is one of many GC alumni turning his efforts toward medical and public health solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. I recently sent him some questions. Here are some of his thoughts about what we are experiencing and seeing, and the role he is playing.
