Time
for Reflection
“…Again,
again we come and go,
changed,
changing. Hands
join,
unjoin in love and fear,
grief
and joy. The circles turn,
each
giving into each, into all…”
Wendell
Berry (from Earth Prayers, p.286; Harper San Francisco, 1991)
In the book,
Earth Prayers, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, New Year’s Eve
is listed as, “a time for reflection and renewal.” I cannot imagine that
anyone on planet Earth is celebrating today with the pandemic at a record high,
and hospitals maxed out. This year’s final day will need to be a time of
reflection only. Looking back at 2020 will not be easy since we are all leaning
forward where we believe we see a glimmer of light on the horizon. That light
comes in the form of vaccines, shots in the arm of the most literal sort. Shots
that bring hope of renewal for the new year.
This
year, just as every other, the cycles turn. This has been the darkest, loneliest
winter of our lives for many people around the world, especially those in
nursing homes, or who live alone. We began by reveling in having unfettered time
on our hands and no demands from the outside world. We believed it was temporary,
and that we could use the time to bond with our loved ones, do all those house
projects that had been on hold, clean out the closets and sort out the basement.
But as months have added up to a year, we have grown anxious and irritable,
worried about jobs and money, and bored with being at home. Many of us have
thrown caution to the wind and gone on with our lives, only to be infected with
a virus that is increasingly virulent and utterly impersonal. Too many of us
have died. Finally, a breakthrough in the form of shots has come, and too many
of us are declining to be vaccinated. (Imagine a head-slap and the exclamation,
“Oi!” here.)
I
cannot fathom what, after a year of house arrest, could possibly be the
motivation for declining a life-saving vaccine—our only real hope for getting back
to some semblance of normalcy. I would like to say that I respect your right to
choose, but that would be a lie. For the human population on this planet to be
safe, we need to vaccinate every single healthy person, so “individual rights”
do not compute here. This is about “collective obligation.” For once in our
lives, we need to put others first. Our priority must be the common good.
In
America, we should view the new year as an opportunity to stop feeling that we
have special status in the world, that the humanity-rules do not apply to us.
Instead, we could simply live up to our motto, “E pluribus Unum;” out of many,
one. We can do our part to further the lives of every human being who exists on
this planet by the simple act of rolling up our sleeves and getting vaccinated.
This is THE act of renewal for this year; the only thing we should be celebrating
tonight. I look forward to high hilarity at the end of 2021, because I definitely
want to check out all your dance moves. But first, we must ensure that as many
of us as possible live to see it. Please, get your vaccination as soon as you
can, and enter this new year with real hope for the future.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
1 comment:
Amen
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