Within this oppressive time in our lives lies an opportunity to understand why this is happening beyond medical and political explanation. Imagine we are students inside a classroom. The subject is titled, “The Benefits from My Coronavirus” and the teacher’s name is Mr. Fear.

His first lecture tells us that the human race, despite superior technological intelligence and advanced military protection from invading enemies, simple things like breathing the air or even touching a table can bring the world to its knees. He quotes Ben Franklin. “A small leak can sink a big ship.”

He reminds us humans are in constant motion. But not anymore. We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another. Now the earth stands still. Beyond the pandemic, Mr. Fear’s virus has shifted the customary use of our bodies. We can use our minds more than our legs. We have been forced into down time to reflect about our past and to reset our plan of life.

Mr. Fear’s invisible invader has changed the surface of our landscape. The faces of the places that are common to the maps inside our minds are now ghost towns around the world.

Disney is out of magic. Paris is no longer romantic. New York is not the city that never sleeps. The Great Wall of China is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.

In the movie, “I am Legend,” years after a plague kills most of humanity, a sole survivor in New York City struggled valiantly to find a cure in a post-apocalyptic universe.

The other day a friend of mine who directs the mass transportation system in the city was describing to me what he saw as he drove through Manhattan on his way to work. State police officers and military personnel patrolled the sidewalks. A woman jogged. A man rode a bicycle. My friend said he could have parked his car in the middle of Fifth Avenue and stood in the street without seeing another car coming for some time.

Traveling to all these destinations is prohibited. Instead, the teacher urges us to take a journey inside to our souls to get to know ourselves better.

Mr. Fear’s pandemic has intentionally reversed the very basic intimacies of human relationships. Hugs, kisses and handshakes have become weapons to be used against us. Not visiting friends and relatives are acts of love and kindness. To care about our friends and relatives now is to leave them alone. Facebooking, FaceTiming and texting are what we have to do to “reach out and touch someone.”

Already addicted to technology, millions of Americans are forced to overdose on their use of laptops and cellphones. Mr. Fear says he eliminated human contact on purpose. He issues an assignment that we are to complete once we are released into society. Spread the infection of togetherness across America. Look into each other’s eyes when we speak. Hold hands in the streets. Honor our rehabilitation from the drug of devices and celebrate the reawakening of our humanness.

His next lesson is a real eye opener. Money and power are worthless if we can’t breathe the air between us. The playing field in the game of life, often tilted by wealth and authority, has been leveled. Whether we’re rich, poor or those in between, we’re equally afraid that the next cough or a hot forehead will send us to the infection floor of the nearest hospital.

When we read the next chapter in Mr. Fear’s textbook, we learn that authority cannot command the behavior of what it cannot see. Leaders of the free world have no ability to keep the public safe from harm to their health. They can’t demand the disease to leave and if no cure or vaccine is found, the virus will decide on its own to depart when it tires from making us sick and from stealing our final breaths.

Instruction continues. Mr. Fear says, “You are not necessary to the universe. The earth, the water, and the sky have immunity and they will live on without you. So take refuge in the outdoors and feel nature’s immortality all around you. Escape reality and attain peace of mind.”

The next lesson instructs us how we should treat each other when we get to live another day. Since the disease does not discriminate against young or old, race or culture, religious or atheist, man or woman,” we are “all in this together,” therefore we should have compassion for one another.

Perhaps the most important lesson is about humility. Mr. Fear tells us when we are humbled, we acquire wisdom. He quotes French novelist, Marcel Proust, “We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.”

Mr. Fear then throws us a red flag of warning. He quotes the late American businessman, Joseph B. Wirthlin. “Pride and vanity, the opposites of humility, can destroy our spiritual health as surely as a debilitating disease can destroy our physical health.”

This is the most important lesson. Humility gives birth to compassion, courage, and empathy. These are the virtues that will strengthen the American spirit so we can withstand this devastation. Then, if we get an “A” on Mr. Fear’s test, we can push forward with a fresh energy and a new attitude.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.