阅读经文 

当二零一九冠状病毒大流行开始时，每一个人都比以前更了解暴露（exposure）这个词语的意思。暴露于这致命的病毒中是一件糟糕的事，我们要尽量避免。没有人会愿意暴露于这种病毒的侵害中。

然而，事实上我们不单可能会暴露于这种病毒，我们也有可能看到被这种病毒暴露出来的问题。二零一九冠状病毒暴露了世界上一些令人担忧、但却往往被忽略的事实。例如，极多的感染和死亡发生在提供长期护理的机构设施中，不单是因为在这些设施中年长的住客较易受感染，也是因为“核心”员工引起的问题；他们往往属于少数民族群体，因为工资低微，他们需要兼职，这样便增加了他们传播病毒的可能性。少数民族人群也往往会有较高的死亡率，因为他们只能得到有限的医疗援助。从一个较为普世性的角度来看，富有的国家有余剩的疫苗，而低收入的国家却要面对疫苗不足的问题。病毒就是这样把我们社会的一些不足之处和普世性的忧虑暴露出来。

然而，按照圣经所说，问题被暴露出来是一件好事，因为它清楚地显明，我们需要寻求神的怜悯、悔改、接受赦免、得到复原。这是一个表面看起来恶劣、但实质却是有益处的好消息。

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, everyone became more aware of the meaning ofexposure. Exposure to the deadly virus was bad, something to be avoided. People didn’t want to be exposed.

But this virus turned out to be not only something we could be exposed to, but also something we could be exposed by. COVID-19 has exposed some troubling realities about our world that tended to be overlooked before. For example, excessive numbers of infections and deaths occurred in long-term care facilities, not just because elderly residents were more susceptible but also because “essential” staff, often ethnic minority workers, were underpaid and needed more than one job, making them more likely to spread the virus. Ethnic minorities also tend to have higher mortality rates because they have limited access to medical assistance. And from a more global view, wealthy nations have a surplus of vaccines while low-income nations have to deal with limited availability of vaccines. In these ways, some of our shortcomings and misplaced priorities in society and in global concerns have been exposed.

Biblically speaking, exposure can be a good thing, though, because it makes clear that we need to seek God’s mercy, to repent, receive forgiveness, and be restored. That’s good news in rough packaging!