Coronavirus Pandemic…
We have heard:
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
What if the tunnel is embedded in darkness!
We have heard:
Every cloud has a silver lining.
What if the sun is engulfed by darkness!
The ray of life in the form of hope,
The silver lining in the form of confidence
Arise in our minds and hearts.
We have been through an ordeal –
We became anxious, angry, frustrated
Not knowing what was in store for us.
The statistics and news frightened us –
The stories we heard and
Events we witnessed
Made us lose heart.
But the ordeal has to come to an end soon.
We have embraced our pain
And burnt it as fuel for our journey.
Things have changed dramatically:
Places of worship were closed –
But every home
Emerged as a place of worship.
We could listen to song of silence.
Perhaps for the first time
We prayed for our neighbours
For their good health –
As our health depends on theirs.
We have learnt to live
With fewer things in life.
Now we know that
We are not invincible but vulnerable.
We have become changed persons –
Of course, for the better.
We realize our vulnerability:
An invisible virus challenged us.
Our medical advances proved insufficient.
We realized the limits and inability
Of science and technology
To face the aggressivity of corona.
We felt that all, the rich and the poor,
Are on the same boat.
And coronavirus has been a great leveler.
We realized more the presence of
The invisible God
As our final hope and refuge.
The invisible mighty God
Became visible and alive
In the form of health workers,
Sanitation employees,
Law enforcement persons,
Selfless volunteers and organizations –
Who spent their time and energy
To take care of the sick and the dying.
In God’s creation
There is no big nor small –
No rich nor poor.
A virus speck
Could bring down
The mighty to the knees.
We have the precedence of
David and Goliath.
Let us recognize people
Not as we want to see them
But as we ought to understand them.
Let us grow in compassion.
Let us wish
That the vulnerable become strong.
Let us accept
The poor as they are rich in love.
Let us become kind to all – since
Kindness is the language
The blind could see and
The deaf could hear.
This would be the new world order.
Let us cling on to hope.
We shall come out
Of the cocoon of lockdown
With flying colours of hope.
Our Master, Jesus,
Was also in quarantine
After his death.
But he came out of the lockdown
Of the grave!
He brought in joy!
Let us explode the bomb of love,
To devastate hatred and
To destroy every evil.
Let us start anew and afresh:
We realize the Persian saying,
Which is ascribed to the Buddha:
This too shall pass.
We have to live out the hope, namely
When you come to the end of the rope,
Tie a knot and hang on!
The Lord of history and the God mystery
Would lead us all
Towards global unity and harmony.
God will be our fellow traveller!
The world will bloom again.
Let us stand together and march forward
Towards universal peace, joy, and health.
Francis P Xavier SJ
Email: francisx@gmail.com
02Apr2020
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