While on my walk today, and realizing that people are dying, that others become greedy or aggressive in our stores, or others who are unable or unwilling to realize that their lack of social distancing could unwittingly affect so many others beyond themselves--even lethally, I encountered passers-by walking their dogs, walking by themselves, or bicycling, each greeted me with a friendly wave that seemed more than those times when life is moving along swimmingly and we often rush on to the next activity. It seems our circumstances can slow us down and aid us towards seeing our need for the essential. Human connection, basic survival, and so on.
And if we pay attention, others are doing what they can to make this crisis better. One of my neighbors is making cloth masks that are washable and therefore re-usable. Another woman in the neighborhood, my wife reports, whose health is compromised and cannot go out, is offering to connect with others through Skype, others are making meals for shut-ins, still, others running errands for those who can't. For the religious, whether struggling to make it or faced with death, many are brought closer to the Infinite. I think that perhaps that we have the potential to be better people when in crises, rather than when we "get everything we want."
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