I've simmered down a little, but not much. The image of the Holy Father alone in St. Peter's Square really pacified me.
__________
A friend wrote:
“I have to confess I am dumbstruck at the seeming credulity many Americans have for President Trump and the right-wing anti-life pro-mammon ideology. I am outraged that no one is outraged that we are now discussing explicitly choosing money over lives. The fact that this is abetted by self-described Christians is galling––but this has been a long-time coming.[1]
No wonder young people are increasingly “spiritual but not religious”. Who would countenance the thinking, let alone the company, of such people? These time call for prophetic voices.
I then see Pope Francis, as someone wrote on an internet meme- "an 81 year old man with only one lung and limping with sciatica, standing alone in a vast piazza under a cold rain, imploring God on behalf of everyone, and reminding us to care for each other. An image of hope.”
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It feels a little skewed to be celebrating the silver lining of the cloud when it is overhead and terrifying people, given that the wave is just starting to crash on our shores. But I found this more sobering that celebrating the clean canals and clear skies at the cost of human misery. It's called “An Imagined Letter from
Covid-19 to Humans” by Kristin Flyntz
Stop. Just stop.
It is no longer a request. It
is a mandate.
We will help you.
We will bring the supersonic,
high-speed merry-go-round to a halt
We will stop
the planes
the trains
the schools
the malls
the meetings
the frenetic, furied rush of
illusions and “obligations”
that keep you from hearing our
single and shared beating heart,
the way we breathe together,
in unison.
Our obligation is to each
other,
As it has always been, even
if, even though, you have forgotten.
We will interrupt this
broadcast, the endless cacophonous broadcast of divisions and distractions,
to bring you this
long-breaking news:
We are not well.
None of us; all of us are
suffering.
Last year, the firestorms that
scorched the lungs of the earth
did not give you pause.
Nor the typhoons in Africa,
China, Japan.
Nor the fevered climates in
Japan and India.
You have not been listening.
It is hard to listen when you
are so busy all the time,
hustling to uphold the
comforts and conveniences that scaffold your lives.
But the foundation is giving
way,
buckling under the weight of
your needs and desires.
We will help you.
We will bring the firestorms
to your body
We will bring the fever to
your body
We will bring the burning,
searing, and flooding to your lungs
that you might hear:
We are not well.
Despite what you might think
or feel,
we are not the enemy.
We are Messenger.
We are Ally.
We are a balancing force.
We are asking you:
To stop, to be still, to
listen;
To move beyond your individual
concerns
and consider the concerns of
all;
To be with your ignorance, to
find your humility,
to relinquish your thinking
minds
and travel deep into
the mind of the heart;
To look up into the sky,
streaked with fewer planes,
and see it, to notice its
condition: clear, smoky, smoggy, rainy?
How much do you need it to be
healthy so that you may also be healthy?
To look at a tree, and see it,
to notice its condition:
how does its health contribute
to the health of the sky,
to the air you need to be
healthy?
To visit a river, and see it,
to notice its condition:
clear, clean, murky, polluted?
How much do you need it
to be healthy
so that you may also be
healthy?
How does its health contribute
to the health of the tree,
who contributes to the
health of the sky,
so that you may also be
healthy?
Many are afraid now.
Do not demonize your fear, and
also, do not let it rule you.
Instead, let it speak to you—in your stillness,
listen for its wisdom.
What might it be telling you
about what is at work, at issue, at risk,
beyond the threats of personal inconvenience
and illness?
As the health of a tree, a
river, the sky tells you about the quality of your own health,
what might the
quality of your health tell you about the health of the rivers, the trees,
the sky,
and all of us who share this planet with you?
Stop.
Notice if you are resisting.
Notice what you are resisting.
Ask why.
Stop. Just stop.
Be still.
Listen.
Ask us what we might teach you
about illness and healing,
about what might be required
so that all may be well.
We will help you if you
listen.
* * *
