In my previous blog I wrote about the UK’s isolation from Europe courtesy of Brexit. How could I ever have predicted that this isolation would become universal and that what I feared for us Brits is being experienced across the entire globe. Oh, the irony. However, this pandemic will take its course and reach an end at some point in the future. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Brexit on the other hand is finite and has already been ordained and established and will be our immediate future possibly for generations to come.
I also wrote that we cannot predict what will happen but I had no idea that this obvious statement would resonate so deeply within all of us as we have all been swamped and engulfed by this pernicious, devastating virus with no holds barred. What extraordinary times we are living in. Unprecedented and relentless.
Our fragilities, our anxieties, our collective fears and confusion – all of these have been magnified and increased exponentially. The plight of the more vulnerable of us has been high-lighted and brought to the attention of the masses and this group of people seem more impacted and mindful of the risks associated with their vulnerability. Besides those amazing workers on the frontline, how many in the general population truly care about those at risk in that they would choose to intentionally alter their lifestyle and modus operandi to shield and prevent the vulnerable through their actions, overt or otherwise? Yes, there have been increased and wonderful acts of kindness and reaching out to those in need. This is to be applauded and recognised. Would those volunteers not be the kind of people who naturally and unselfishly think of others because this is part of their nature or intrinsic personality ? If so, then they would have a natural inclination throughout their lives to reach out to and consider others, pandemic or not. It’s the vast majority of the population that I wonder about . Acts of altruism and selflessness are wonderful at any time even if they are brief and short-lived. It’s when these acts become part of our DNA and the desire to reach out to and help others becomes the norm. This is when the world will truly change for the better.
I’m not pointing fingers here nor absolving myself from selfish , me-centred behaviour. So many of my angsts are because I am sometimes too wrapped up in my own misery . True acts of service , when one places another before oneself, are nearly always rewarded with blessings received but these blessings can only be experienced by the giver if their act of kindness was conveyed without any thought of self gratification or self motivation. The act of giving in its purest form, is directly from the heart with the sole purpose of bringing help or joy to another with no count of cost or effort. It is what we as humans are called to do.
‘ Love your neighbour ‘ has perhaps never before been so impactful nor held such importance for the whole world as it does today. Did we have to be brought to our knees before we recognise the relevance and significance of this commandment? Most interesting of all is that there is only one common factor that can reach us all. The biggest wake-up call there is. The question of our mortality and for most of us, there has never been a time when our mortality has been so under threat.
What do we take away from this? Time will tell. Patterns repeat themselves, old habits return and its little wonder that we feel cynical and doubtful that anything will really change once the threat has passed and people resume their lives albeit now with a new normal and adapted way of living. But hope springs eternal and in all of us, even the most hardened sceptic, there is the desire for the best outcome even if that desire is directed initially at self. There is a future that benefits us all but it requires our all .
