People who are drowning are fighting for their lives.  Because of exhaustion or lack of swimming ability, they're sinking under the water and getting farther away from the air with each passing moment.  Such unreasoning fear sets in that they begin flailing around wildly, trying to grab anything they can find to pull themselves back to the surface.  That unreasoning fear and resultant flailing around are called panic.

People who are panicking, are, by definition, not thinking.  That makes them dangerous.  They'll grab on to you and push you underwater in an effort to save themselves, even if you swam out to rescue them.  They're doing it because they're not thinking of anyone else; they're not thinking about the future.  They're 100% emotionally focused on the right here and now, now, now, Now, Now, NOW!

You never approach drowning people from the top of the water.  Instead, as you get near them, you dive under the water at least below their waistline; turn them around so they can't reach you; "crawl" up their body from behind; then throw an arm over their shoulder, bump your hip into the lower middle of their back to raise them up, and start side-stroking back to the shore or the side of the pool.

Rest assured: they'll be fighting you all the way, because even though you've got them up to the surface, where they can breathe, they're still in panic mode and will be for at least several minutes.  It takes people a while to calm down and return to normal.  It's nothing against anyone; it's just human nature.

The same dynamic holds true with respect to the so-called "invisible enemy" known as the coronavirus, COVID-19, Chinese virus, etc., etc., etc.  The very use of the word "enemy" creates in the listener or reader the picture of the horrors of war aimed directly at him, right between the eyes.  The initial estimates of nightmarish numbers of fatalities were broadcast by media that live by the dictum "If it bleeds, it leads," until a national panic had set in.  Once that state of mind was firmly entrenched in the general public, reason went right out the door, along with any possible hope of coming through this disease with our nation intact.

That state of panic and unreasoning fear is the real culprit behind allowing governors and mayors the illegal, unconstitutional, and unbiblical authority they've claimed to quarantine the healthy, define what is essential and non-essential, arrest people for the innocuous "crime" of playing ball with their children on a deserted playground or paddle-boarding by themselves on the ocean, harass us with drones, demand that churches shut down, strip people of their jobs, release thousands of felons onto the streets, and destroy our nation with an implementation of socialism that shows no signs of slowing down even as the coronavirus does.  Panic destroys our ability to step back and examine these outrageous actions with a clear head.

Even the church isn't immune.

Just this week, one of the leaders of our church announced on the live-streaming broadcast that we would be starting drive-in services now that the "government will allow us to hold church again."  He wasn't being flippant when he phrased it that way.  He was overjoyed to tell us what was on the upcoming schedule.  This was not some cafeteria Christian, either, but a staunch man of God who recently emerged from a lengthy and grueling medical marathon that required immense amounts of faith from him and his family.  Nevertheless, his comment, made in passing, that government was allowing us to hold church again is indicative of how deeply the secular culture has sunk its claws into the church.  It demonstrates how fear has taken over even the church.

Where is the wisdom Americans once possessed concerning the limits of the government's police powers?  Have we lost it?  Have we forgotten it?  How could we?  It's not as if wisdom were a complicated thing.

Wisdom is defined as good sense or judgment.  Put more succinctly, wisdom is common sense, or perhaps the practice of common sense.  These days, it's often very unpopular as well.  People don't want to be told they're cowards for giving in to fear.  No one wants to be subjected to ridicule for going against the grain.

Admittedly, words do hurt, especially from a loved one, but that's no reason to be cowed by them.  The wisdom to ignore hurtful words and do the right thing will always be unpopular because when you take those right actions, you implicitly accuse those around you of cowardice for not taking those actions...and they know it.  They may not be able to put it into those exact words, but they definitely feel it in their hearts.  They know that your actions are showing them to be cowards by comparison.

Therefore, once aspect of wisdom can be defined as unpopular common sense.

By this definition, if you practice wisdom, you're guaranteed to be unpopular.  A person or nation that is panicking will fight you even though you're trying to help, just like the drowning person in the example above.  Wisdom in the age of panic means that no amount of arguing, cajoling, or reasoning will ever be enough to change the minds of those who are panicking or whom you've offended with your bravery.

So, we should quit trying.  Instead, we should focus on beating them.

Now, that's wisdom.

Michael V. Wilson is an author, freelance writer, curmudgeon, and husband who writes for the joy of it at Scribe of Texas.

Graphic credit: Pixabay.