Though each decade can warrant a comment that reflects its uniqueness and its various challenges, there is no doubt that this period, which may last the proverbial ‘one thousand two hundred and sixty days’ (Revelation 11), is showing us (again) humanity’s parasitic and self-destructive capacities.
It is a bit of an understatement to mention that I have been astounded by the reactionary – or perhaps carefully planned – removal of personal liberties and travel… and indeed effective psychological coercion to partake of medication in order to work, in many places around the State and what was once our free (or relatively so) country. It astounds me that, despite medical contraindications, the vast majority are willing to submit to wearing facial coverings inhibiting normal breathing (and yesterday, in the Perth region, it reached 43°C!). Only a few years ago, any political figure advocating something would have been branded either a nut-case or, probably more accurately, a narcissistic sociopath whose undue power had gone to his or her head… and yet, here some are actually (perhaps for real) extolling such as virtue! Astounding, from my perspective!
What I (along with thousands of others) am faced with, as a consequence, is a loss of income, loss of freedom of association, loss of freedom of movement, loss of entry into public venues, studios, cafes, etc… and even, if they go ahead with the plan, even losing the ability to travel from one house to another to see a beloved! At the very least, the analogy to the constraints placed on distant family members during the horrors of WWII are quite apparent!
Yet, this is also a time to rebuild community, a time to increase our own inner life and meditative insights, or practices to move the body within nature in healthier ways, or selective reading ,of (for some) withdrawing from ‘social’ media and re-engaging in real social connectedness!
To breathe, to breathe, the breathe…