Big
Choices
“And
this is God’s own truth: the more often I cried in my room…and felt just generally
wretched, the more often I started to have occasional moments of utter joy, of
feeling aware of each moment shining for its own momentous sake.”
Anne
Lamott (Bird by Bird, p.71)
In the human world right now, we are enduring very difficult times. The coronavirus is making people sick and killing people all around the world. America has found itself with too little too late in fighting it, and even though we have, under normal circumstances, an excellent health care system, today that system in trouble.
In the middle of this
pandemic, we will be called upon to hold the light for many, many people, and
one of them may be ourselves. We must do the common-sense things that the
medical specialists tell us to do, and beyond that, we must take responsibility
for ourselves. No more panic shopping, no more panic hoarding, no more panic,
period. Do what you can do to protect yourselves and know that this too will
pass.
People have died and will die from this virus, but many more will not. We must keep that fact fully in our consciousness. This is not the end of the world, and it is not God’s punishment for our transgressions. It is a virus doing what viruses do, which is to find a host and set up shop. We will come out the other side sadder no doubt, but also wiser. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for America. We aren’t the brightest and the best, we sometimes need help, we don’t always get it right, and we are not the saviors of the world. In other words, this virus should serve to bring us back to reality in a brutal but essential way. It will tame our ego individually, and collectively. That’s a good thing and way overdue.
Crises bring out both the worst and the best in humankind. We are witnessing neighbors helping neighbors, and we have seen folks hording essential supplies; we have watched as loved ones showed love and empathy for their elderly parents and grandparents, and we have witnessed callous disregard for everyone by people who deny the threat of Covid-19. We are witnessing first-hand what Jesus meant by “separating the sheep from the goats.”
It is we who decide how
to weather this trial. Will it make us foolish or wise? Will we mourn our dead
and sit with our sick and pray, or will we show callous disregard for everyone and try to enrich ourselves at their expense? Hopefully, kindness and service
will rule the day, but even if it doesn’t collectively, each of us will choose
how we behave and how we treat others. During this time of crisis across the
globe, will you be a sheep, or will you be a goat?
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment