What have you been noticing about life?

I mean, really noticing now?

Behind closed doors, working at home if we are fortunate to have a job, and not interacting with real in-the-flesh people, we have all (or will) become masters in musing.  For introverts, the transition at this time may feel natural and not as tricky as it may be for extroverts.  Regardless of who we are, and what personalities we have, these are the circumstances which have befallen all of us, and we must make the best of them.  We are still alive, when many are not.

Quite a few things have been emerging for me over the last few weeks – and it is mind-boggling that it really only has been a few weeks since everything was turned upside down.  Despite the horror of this pandemic worldwide, there have been some silver linings in this madness.  And these have been the very things which have needed to be known for a very long time.

But first, let me backtrack a little.

A few weeks ago, when the pandemic was becoming more prevalent in the media, our Prime Minister here in Australia was starting to hold more press conferences, ‘BREAKING NEWS’ was seen more frequently on our television screens, and of course the toilet paper fiasco was playing out in our supermarkets, I was concerned, but ok.  People in my circles were aware of the virus overseas, but we were still chuckling about the toilet paper a bit, and nothing was being forced upon us in the way we could greet each other.

But then came a moment of true awakening for me, and I suspect many other Catholics. 

This moment came when it was announced that our churches would close to the public, I would no longer be able to attend Mass and see my community there, be able to sing at this “non-essential” gathering, and most importantly, I would no longer receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

And so I will admit it.  I panicked a bit.  Everything became real because now I was affected. 

The them and they became the I and me.

This virus was no longer happening in some distant country, but in my own backyard.

And so I thought: “what if this is it?”, “what if the world is ending, and Christ is returning, like, in the next few weeks?” as opposed to some future time when many of us – including Christians – may secretly want it to happen in one hundred years because perhaps we are not actually quite ready right now.  So was I ready?

I was not.  I am not.

I wanted to find good work again.  I wanted to be useful again.  I wanted to see my friends again and have some final lunch catch-ups.  I wanted to go on a pilgrimage.  I wanted to go to Mass again and at least say goodbye to the people there before disappearing for the next six months – which is the minimum time we have been told to endure this, to “socially distance” ourselves and await the “flattening of the curve” – new words which are now seared into our collective memories, lexicons, and history.

In short, I wanted to be better, smarter, holier, more worthy, and acceptable if I was to face my Maker.  But now I could not even get within a metre of a confessional because the church I usually go to for that was shut down.

How we take things for granted.

How true are the words of the song “The Living Years”:

“It may have a new perspective
On a different day”

and the lyrics to “Big Yellow Taxi”:

“Don’t it always seem to go,
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone”

But something good is happening amidst this mess.

There are little movements of communities online, music aplenty (Harry Belafonte said “You can cage the singer but not the song”), references to “being in this together”, Masses online (even though it will never be the same as the real thing, the spiritual communion is there), food drops to the elderly and vulnerable, and many other acts of kindness.

We all have the capacity for kindness and goodness within us, but it has taken this global emergency, a time of crisis and invisible war, for us to realise it.  We can seize the day, as bleak as we may feel, and make this form of kindness and reaching out to the other as our “new normal”.

The hard fact is that unless our good Lord gives us a miracle soon – and I and many others are praying for this every day (hoping for Easter Sunday 2020 please) – we will have to be resilient and wait for at least a few months, if not six or more.  It is Lent, a time of sacrifice, repentance, and solidarity with the Lord’s suffering, as well as those of others.

Let us focus on the good we have seen, and how we can contribute to that good, whether you are a person of faith or not. 

I have been making a little mental list of sorts, calmly noticing what has been blossoming in this darkness:

1. More birds (and new birds) are flocking to our quiet suburbs and cities where they would normally be frightened away by aircraft, traffic, people, and other noises.  They fly with freedom and give me hope.  They are beautiful to watch and their songs can be heard in the silence.
   
   
2. The nights have been sacredly quiet, and have allowed me to pray with more depth, feeling, and concentration.
   
   
3. People have been connecting, helping, and supporting others in innovative and creative ways online and via the phone.
   
   
4. Governments are working hard together, regardless of their political persuasions (I can only speak for Australia here), to ensure that people and businesses are surviving as best they can. 
   
   
5. Every advertisement I have seen on television and heard on the radio about this virus has been positive and informative, using language such as “support”, “help”, “in this together”, and so on.
   
   
6. Businesses are bending over backwards to survive, but to also help others put food on the table and the essentials of life.
   
   
7. Volunteers, as always, are the backbone of our society, and they remain unflinching and unfailing in supporting their fellow human beings.
   
   
8. Our doctors, nurses, medical professionals, emergency services and so on, are rightly being applauded for their hard work and sacrifice, the likes of which we have never seen before in our lifetimes, apart from those who have lived through world wars.
   
   
9. And last, but not least, there has been an explosion of spiritual online offerings, Masses, and other resources to support Christians, which has meant the world to me. 

So you see, the evil of this pandemic will not prevail.  Let us do the practical things, abide by the measures being put into place by our governments, and do our part to protect others.

But always, always and above all, focus on the calm in the chaos, and continue to pray, for God loves us if we but turn to Him, and there is still good in our poor world.

Image Credit: pixabay.com