Quarantine Awakening

As we suffer through the global side effects of Covid-19, one of the burning questions in everybody’s mind is this: Why did this pandemic come upon the world? Since nobody knows the real answer, they come up with conspiracy theories. One such theory is that it is part of the Chinese biological weapons program which started in the Wuhan institute of virology. Russia thinks it was planted in China by the CIA. The Arab world thinks that it was caused by Big Pharma so that they can make money from vaccines. Rush Limbaugh said that it was a Chinese scheme to bring down Donald Trump. Many Christians think that it is a sign that the world is going to end.

Let me say this first. I don’t know for sure, how this pandemic came upon the world. But I have a hunch. And my hunch is based not on searching for a cause, but on reflecting on its effect.

Other than illness and death for those who are directly affected by it, what is the effect of the corona virus on the world? This tiny virus has basically shut down the entire world — physically, emotionally and economically. Entire populations have disappeared from view and is hiding behind closed doors, being afraid of a tiny thing that they cannot see, hear, touch, smell or taste. For those who live their entire lives based what they can see, hear, touch, smell or taste it is a very unnerving experience. Those who believe and live only the world, are spooked by something that has no physical dimensions.

Dictators and despots look impotent. Presidents and prime ministers look helpless. One prime minister — Boris Johnson, the proponent of Brexit, (which by the way was his way of safeguarding Britain from the rest of the countries in the European Union), could not save his country or himself from being infected by the virus! The armies they have built and the weapons they have developed are rendered useless. Athletes and actors whom society worships, are relegated to the background and ordinary heath care workers are now hailed as heroes and angels. The world order as we know it, is turned upside down.

I think that the pandemic happened so that, we as a society will be forced to stop in its track and reevaluate our value systems, reconsider our priorities, repent of our sins and possibly chart a different course in life. I think the pandemic happened so that we will take a serious look into the damage that humans have done to our home planet and correct course before the entire planet blows up, taking us all into a global grave.

My hunch about the cause of this global tragedy has been eloquently expressed by a spiritual writer named Vivienne Reich in a recent poem. It is titled A Corona Virus Letter to Humanity:

The earth whispered but you did not hear.

The earth spoke but you did not listen

The earth screamed but you turned her off.

And so, I was born… I was not born to punish you …

I was born to awaken you …The earth cried out for help…

Massive flooding. But you didn’t listen. Burning fires. But you didn’t listen.

Strong hurricanes. But you didn’t listen. Terrifying Tornadoes. But you didn’t listen.

You still don’t listen to the earth when

Ocean animals are dying due to pollutants in the waters. Glaciers melting at an alarming rate.

Severe droughts. You didn’t listen to how much negativity the earth is receiving.

Non-stop wars. Non-stop greed. You just kept going on with your life …

No matter how much hate there was …No matter how many daily killings…

It was more important to get that latest iPhone than worry about what the earth was trying to tell you …But now I am here.

And I’ve made the world stop on its tracks. I’ve made YOU finally listen.

I’ve made you take refuge.

I’ve made you stop thinking about materialistic things …

Now you are like the earth…You are only worried about YOUR survival.

How does that feel?I give you fever … as the fires burn on earth.

I give you respiratory issues … has pollution fill the earth air.

I give you weakness as the earth weakens every day.

I took away your comforts …Your outings.

The things you would use to forget about the planet and its pain.

And I made the world stop…And now…

China has better air quality … Skies are clear blue because factories are not spewing pollution unto the earth’s air. The water in Venice is clean and dolphins are being seen.

Whales are coming back to parts of the oceans because humans are not there.

YOU are forced to take time to reflect on what is important in your life. Again, I am not here to punish you … I am here to Awaken you…

When all this is over and I am gone… Please remember these moments …

Listen to the earth. Listen to your soul. Stop Polluting the earth.

Stop Fighting among each other. Stop caring about materialistic things.

And start loving your neighbors. Start caring about the earth and all its creatures.

Start believing in a Creator. Because next time I may come back even stronger….

Signed,

Corona Virus

I chose that poem because this coming Wednesday, April 22nd is earth day. Ever since it started in 1970, earth day is always celebrated after Easter. Easter is about renewal and rejuvenation and a new life rising from suffering and death. Earth day was established 50 years ago to raise awareness about the fact that planet earth is our common home and we are supposed to be caretakers and custodians of her.

Instead we have used and abused her for our greedy purposes, polluting the environment with carbon dioxide and dumping millions of tons of plastic into the oceans. Mindless deforestation has killed millions of trees. Amazon which is called the lungs of the earth has lost 20% of its area in the last 30 years. Again, it is ironic that the corona virus affects the lungs the most, and that is why ventilators are in high demand.

Human greed and desire for domination have polluted the earth and destroyed its ecological balance in many parts of the world.

Pope Francis thinks the corona virus could be a result of the world ignoring the harsh consequences of climate change. During an interview with the Tablet Magazine the pope said:

“There is an expression in Spanish: “God always forgives, we forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives.”

Asked about whether he thought the pandemic was an opportunity for an ecological conversion and a reassessment of priorities and lifestyles, the pope said that society has not responded to “partial catastrophes” stemming from the climate crisis.

“Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that 18 months ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted?” he asked. “Who speaks now of the floods? I don’t know if these are the revenge of nature, but they are certainly nature’s responses.”

During this forced quarantine, we have a lot of time to think about the real meaning of life.

We should use this crisis as an opportunity for spiritual awakening and see the entire planet as one human family.

We should get rid of divisive thinking based on race, religion, ethnicity, nationality and sexual orientation.

Remember that corona virus does not discriminate against any of those artificial groupings we have created.

Corona virus does not engage in partisan politics. It does not care whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, whether you live in a red state or a blue state.

The virus does not care one bit about our religious superiority or denomination purity. It doesn’t care whether Christianity is superior to Islam, or whether you are a Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian.

By spreading across continents, countries, oceans and nations, the corona virus has taught us that it does not respect man-made borders and boundaries.

Walls, fences and check points cannot stop it.

It does not obey man made rules.

It cannot be destroyed by man made bombs. It cannot be defended by man made armies.

It cannot be bought off with man made millions.

All human plans and calculations are rendered useless and we find ourselves powerless and paralyzed.

Covid 19 should make us humble so that we will stop denigrating other religions, deriding refugees, resisting immigrants, hating Muslims, judging gays, and resenting welfare recipients.

It should open our hearts to embrace the entire planet with everyone and everything on it as God’s holy creation. It is time to awaken to the fact that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” (Ps. 24:1)

If this pandemic and the forced quarantine can help us go deeper and embrace a planetary consciousness, it is all worth it.

I can think of three other kinds of consciousness which are small and limited: Personal consciousness ( I care about only myself and my family), National Consciousness (I care ab out only my country), Denominational consciousness ( I care about only my religion).

We should not come out of this ordeal to, a business as usual life, but to a new awakening about what life on this planet is all about.

Let us remember that even though our bodies are quarantined, our minds are not.

Use this time to broaden your mind, and expand your heart to envision the earth as God’s gift, embrace the entire humanity as our spiritual siblings and engage in meaningful action to save the planet and thus save the world.