Will we heed the warnings? Surely God knows.

The look my grandma Nellie would shoot us when we were caught “actin’ a fool” in church is still fresh in my mind.

Our hushed snickers would cease and our tiny feet would stop kicking the back of church pews.

Not cutting it out would lead to a trip to the lady’s room for a talking-to — or worse, a smack on the butt.

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The memory of being dressed in a too-long white robe and dunked in holy water during my baptism also remains vivid.

As my obituary will likely read, I accepted Jesus as my personal savior at a very young age.

He has never forgotten or forsaken me, even when my heart or/and mind have strayed.

I know there is a God. I have prayed and he has provided.

I also know that God gave man and woman intelligence and free will.

He gave us scientists.

He gave us journalists.

The way I see it, they are here partly to relay warnings.

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There are things passed down from the ages now practically written into our DNA — things like, fire burns. Babies need protections from predators, be they man or beast.

Things like: Don’t act a fool in church or you will get grandma’s eye. The next step is a talking to or worse, a slap on the butt.

Then there are warnings, like distance yourself to help stop the spread of a bug so tiny that not even your grandma could see it.

The United States was blessed, lucky, fortunate — whatever you want to call it — that we were not the first to be hit by the coronavirus.

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Scientists here had time to research it, come up with strategies to slow and eventually stop it.

Journalists can spread their findings, tell stories of its impact. Remind you to wash your hands. Distance yourself.

A tiny bug is playing the part of predator and claiming prizes all around the world.

Thousands of flesh-and-blood humans are being taken out by viruses that are merely 26 to 32 kilobases in length, according to the CDC.

Mankind is intellegent.

Mankind is imperfect.

Mankind has free will.

Will we heed the warnings?

Will we take advantage of the blessing, the luck, the fortune bestowed on us?

Will we keep kicking the back of the pew even though grandma’s eye is warning us of the spanking to come if we don’t stop?

Surely God knows.

But I don’t.

MORE: Columns from Amelia Robinson 

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