We are living in a world that has been turned upside down by the Coronavirus.

But, as it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun.

The 16th-century theologian Martin Luther had this to say during the bubonic plague, offering his thoughts in a letter titled “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague” on how best to practically and spiritually overcome:

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us.

“Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it.

“I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence.

“If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others.

“If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely.”