Given our current situation, you have probably heard about the origins of the word quarantine. The practice of keeping ship passengers, livestock, and cargo from immediately disembarking upon coming into port was first established in the 14th century during the bubonic plague. The first known practice of sequestering newcomers who might be carrying disease took place in what is today Dubrovnik, Croatia. They required a thirty (trentino in Italian) day waiting period. Within a century, the practice was widespread in the parts of the Mediterranean subject to Italian influence, but the period of sequestration was increased from thirty (trentino) to forty (quarantino in Italian) days; hence the English word, “quarantine.”
Why forty days? The most likely reason is because of its biblical significance. It rained 40 days and 40 nights in the story of Noah and the flood. Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai when he was given the Law. The Hebrew escapees from bondage in Egypt wandered 40 years in the desert before entering the Promised Land. 40 years is the round figure that the Bible uses when calculating a generation. Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness and that is the number of fast days during Lent.
Biblical numbers may not be reliable as indicators of historical truth (creation in 7 days; Methuselah living to be 969 years old!) but they are meaningful as symbols and useful once you let go of any concern about making them work in a literal sense.
Whenever you encounter the number 40 in scripture, in your mind substitute the word “enough.” How long was Moses up on the mountain? Long enough to hear God speak. How long did the Israelites wander? Enough time for a new generation born in freedom to come of age. How long did Jesus fast and pray? Long enough to face temptation and discern his mission.
I hope as you read this you are not under a strict modern quarantine period (14 days) because that would mean that you have been exposed to the virus. But all of us are experiencing some of the limitations of those who are quarantined.
Allow this period of time to be “enough;” sufficient to shape us, to deepen our appreciation of things we are missing, to strengthen our relationships – those with whom we share our isolation and those we are missing. It might even be possible for this time to draw us closer to God and deepen our awareness of the presence of God in every moment and in all of the created order. If it does that, this quarantine, no matter how long it lasts, will have been enough.
Prayer: Eternal God, we find ourselves in the wilderness, in an experience that has radically changed our ordinary routines. Use this time for your purposes in our lives. Amen.