For many years the land was full of plenty.  The people grew accustomed to having much of what they needed and many had more than they could handle.  There were still those who lived on the streets – who filled parks and slept under bridges, but some appeared to like it that way.  Others simply lived day to day wondering if they would make it through another one.

Then a darkness came over the land.  The people were forced to take cover inside.  Even the homeless were not immune and many died because of it.  For many it was a long awaited vacation from the rattling noise of daily living.  It was a time to get reacquainted with family and start to do some of the things they wanted to do together, but never had time for.

A spirit of unity was returning, but still those who were alone and without families lived hidden away from the world.  They had now become even more outcast from society. They were considered a threat to those who remained cloistered.  They were deemed carriers of the dreaded disease which was weaving its way inside the city streets and outlying farm country.

Those who felt secure before this all happened were beginning to fear that their life savings were being swallowed up by the lack of open workplaces.  Vendors and purveyors of goods were forced to discard their products for fear of infecting those who purchased them.  Shortages of those goods made it difficult for both providers and their customers.  Eventually the workplace would be replaced with work at home stations and loss of any personal interaction.

Every day seemed to bring new challenges.  It was as if they were the nation of Israel, trying to survive their exodus from Egypt through the wilderness.  They lost faith in their leaders.  They doubted those who were feeding them information.  They began to fight among themselves by any means available to them.  They felt defeated, lost and deserted by those who had promised to help them and by the One who had delivered them.

As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the murmuring began. As in days of old, when things got tough the tough gave up.  They grumbled and complained.  They felt cheated by their circumstances and began to venture out of their shelters, in spite of the chains that were designed to protect them.

As more and more came back into the streets – faced the day with hope and optimism – weren’t confined anymore – their world came back to life.  People began to feel satisfaction in their work.  They felt useful and purposeful again.  Their prison doors were opened and they were released from bondage.

Things returned to the way they were before the imprisonment, but would any real lessons be learned?  Would the new normal be nothing more than life as usual?  Would their time in the wilderness show them the importance of being with those they loved? Would they have learned to adapt,  to innovate or create new ways of doing things or would they simply survive?  Would the love of material things, money and success return and swallow all the good things that happened while incarcerated?

It would take more time to see the results of the entire event.