Roll Call - Sunday 4/5/20

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

 We've been in this new normal for a while now, and I'm wondering if anyone is feeling as though it qualifies as such.  Is social distancing a habit now, or do we struggle to not reach out and touch, shake hands or simply offer a physical gesture of support and encouragement?

I'm on my way out the door to our church service; no one there except the musicians and pastor, two techies that make it all turn into a live feed.  People feel connected through it, making comments throughout and even prayer requests.  It's amazing to me knowing this is going on around the world, thanks to the available and prevailing technology.

Passover begins on Wednesday, and the significance of an observation that recalls a time when the blood of a lamb, sacrificed and made the family meal, was placed on the doorposts and lintels of those ancient homes in order for death to bypass them, cannot be ignored during this current plague.  Easter, which falls next Sunday within the borders of Passover, celebrates another sacrifice, described as God's Passover Lamb, whose blood saves not only one group, but the world.  This compels me to believe in a passover for us, by whatever miracle of science might bring it about.

Of course, not everyone thinks as I do. But that doesn't stop me from praying and hoping for the safety of all of us, regardless of differences in viewpoints and beliefs.  Perhaps that is going to be the positive in all of the chaos and, for some, grief.  Perhaps it's possible to drop party lines, points of contention and endless wastes of time and energy spent on despising what the other person says or thinks.  

It's a stretch, I'll admit it and acquiesce to the probability that, at the end of this, people will go back to doing what they did before. Politicians will continue to haggle and spew out vindictive words... and I do mean all of them, unfortunately.  But people, those without an agenda for power or fame, can come out of this peaceably and with regard for others and what we've all been through, together.  Toilet paper hoarding aside, people have been afraid and shifting into survival mode.  I just hope our own survival will never mean we sacrifice someone else's.

Any thoughts on the topic?  Let us know you're here, because as Illya once said (and I have quoted more than once), 'we're all in the soup together'.

Comments

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

I'm not a believer. The human race makes its own weather (literally) and has to live with it. Quite depressing.

But not being able to reach out to others isn't normal, as the mass volunteering that has happened here in the UK shows - some half a million people have volunteered to help the NHS and other organisations. Likewise, when people everywhere come out to sing to each other, or applaud, or just be together for the same purpose in the same space, however distant. That's attempting normality.

As to the future, our bitterly divided country finds itself united again, for the moment anyway - at least until we discover what isolationism is going to mean after this is over. Then I hate to think what will happen here and elsewhere. We still have brexit, the US still has Trump, other countries have their own incompetents. That's more than quite depressing.

Sorry. I'm just depressed.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I suppose the adage is true, Perspective is Everything.
I just read of PM Johnson's serious encounter with C-19, I hope he is able to recover. And I hope you find something to give you a glimmer of hope, it is one of the most essential elements of life I think.

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

I have very little respect for our present prime minister, but as a fellow human being I wouldn't wish him ill. It's oddly disquieting that someone in his position, however contemptible and bad at it, should be in this situation. If any of the other nincompoops in the government had a brain cell between them, it wouldn't be so worrying. Maybe they'll have to call on the other parties and form a national government. Now that would be quite cheering.