I have been in foxholes, on platoon patrols, and to field hospitals with wartime casualties pouring in. I have been to sandbag lines against raging floods and storm shelters in the eyes of hurricanes. I have reported from homeless shelters, and senior homes, and schools struggling with meager resources. I have seen uncommon valor from those whose names will never be known to history. I have seen goodness, decency, and sacrifice for which there was not only no likely reward, but when the very act of selflessness put the helper in greater personal danger.

We are in very difficult and dangerous times. This country will emerge, but at great cost. For some, maybe quite a few, that cost will be measured in deaths of family members, friends, and other loved ones. It is almost guaranteed that all of us will be touched in some way by these mortal tallies. Many more will see economic hardship, and even ruin. Businesses and careers built over decades are gone in a matter of weeks. Then there is the social and mental burdens of isolation and anxiety. There is no safe harbor from this. We are all in it together.

But I also know that while we tend as a species to underestimate risk, we also underestimate our own resilience. We have far too long seen a broken system without really seeing all of its vulnerabilities. And now we rush to fix the crisis. There is no shortage of heroes making sure this nation can withstand this punch to our now long-gone sense of invulnerability. There are the medical professionals risking their lives, scandalously under-provisioned, to treat the tsunami of cases. We will never know, or fully appreciate, the full measure of their heroism. Right now, as you read this, there are countless split-second decisions being made, under great stress, to save lives. There are also the people keeping our food system going, especially those working in the stores at far too-low wages. There are the first responders, truck drives, public health officials, government leaders, mail carriers and others delivering goods, custodial staff, and all the others who have no choice but to leave the relative safety of their own homes. They are heroes too.

In the moment, we must band together to realize that every measure we can take as individuals and communities to flatten the curve will save lives. But while we are preoccupied, rightly, with the daunting days, weeks, and likely months ahead, we must also recognize the heroism required to keep our society functioning as best as possible. We have to start considering what comes next. For all those who want to get back to where we were, that is an understandable urge. But where we were was also a system of great inequities, vulnerabilities, and unpreparedness. What comes next must be built on the spirit of the heroism we see today. But it must be a system that requires less such heroism and much more equity, security, and justice in the future.