IT HAS BEEN A WEEK

It has been a week since I felt, even remotely, like sitting down to write. When I feel brave enough to be a risk-taker I switch the radio to the NPR station where the first soundbite can be both heart breaking and spirit crushing. So I leave my hand at the dial, ready to switch back over to music. You can sense the emotional weight by the tone of voice if it is a sad tale of loss and bad news. Likewise television; My t.v. gets its news from an antenna rather than the cable or satellite. That signal often breaks up with no usable audio or video. I would switch to cable if I could but that would put a stranger inside my house with new technology and necessitate a learning curve on how to operate the controls. I’ve decided against that for the present. 

In my journal I often pontificate. Pontificate; great word. Moralize would serve as well but without the annoyance of a pompous, self righteous bigot. I try to be subtle with my moral bias but it is what it is. I know enough psychology and brain science to connect the dots but then, on my best day, I think I think. At this point there isn’t much to moralize. Politics in particular have been supplanted in the need to endure and survive. Ideological bigots see pandemic as an opportunity to spread a polarizing message but I think, I think; most people see through that smoke screen. The message is  coming through loud and clear; we are all in this together and we will come through on the other side. 

I have not had a direct interaction with another human being for over 3 weeks. I see them. We wave and shout support from across the street or from passing cars but that wears thin. Telephone contact, Face Time, online (Zoom) meetings all help to keep connected and I do that whenever I can. I understand there is an element in every culture that flaunts a cavalier attitude but I am sensing a heartfelt, I love you, be safe, do the right thing. I take comfort where I can, with physical exercise and hands-on activity. Today, this writing is more therapeutic for me than anything else. It’s the first time in a week that the keyboard feels inviting. 

It is Good Friday. All three major religions celebrate this week, one tradition or another. I like Passover, the story is so long lived. Judaism is the oldest branch of Abraham’s deal with Yahweh, or Elohim, whichever suits you. But sons of Abraham all over the world are a little more tolerant of their sanctified  cousins this week than usual. My Jewish amigos, my friends celebrate more from a cultural coming together than as a religious expression. Historically, they have been singled out and persecuted more so than any other ‘People’. Their resilience models life’s longing for itself. I am sympathetic with that story without embracing Israel’s national agenda. But it is Passover and that’s a bigger deal than angry men, all sons of Abraham, fighting over scrublands and hating what the other holds dear. 

Easter in a couple of days; believers will join in spirit if not in the flesh. Their story is unbelievable as well but that’s how Faith works. With a deadly virus stalking every human on the planet, some would gather as a show of faith while others rationalize; God gave me a brain to use in emergencies and it tells me to stay home this Easter. If I had Faith it would make me feel better but Coronavirus and God are, I’m afraid, preoccupied with their own priorities that leave us all expendable. Good Friday: it surely must be a holy day. Today is the day at hand, the only day I can put my hands on. Tomorrow will be holy too, nothing  less.