We Need One Another As far as I know, none of my friends or colleagues have contracted the coronavirus, but a number of them are getting sick with other ailments, whether chronic disorders or terminal diseases. I suppose it’s because I’m getting older, so my friends are aging, as well. Our bodies were designed to fall apart, and they do. Decay and death will happen to us all. But our physical vulnerability rarely feels real until we receive a diagnosis that shatters the comfortable control of our world. Then we face a grief and anxiety. Often, we can find peace on the other side, but first we must go through…
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Healing from Trauma
The Trauma of Coronavirus We live in a time of worldwide trauma. Not that this is new. After all, for as long as we have written down our histories, and perhaps before that, when all we had was an oral tradition filled with myths and violent gods, we humans have violated and terrorized one another. The coronavirus has merely made this more visible, at least to those of us whose lives are simple and orderly and safe. Now we are all in danger. An invisible virus is sickening and killing us. Our economies are falling apart. Stuck at home, lonely, bored, our tempers frayed, it seems our lives are unraveling.…
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Earth Day, Global Warming, and Love
The Answer Is Love Love is the answer. No matter the problem, the answer is love. I believe that. I really do. But today we’re talking about Earth Day and its theme for this year, climate change. What does love have to do with that? How can love help? Not everyone thinks it will. In July, I wrote about the Dirtbag Left, angry lefties who enjoy calling names and throwing hateful gibes into the virtual world as much as do reactionary Republicans. In his article about the digital nature of the presidential election, Kevin Roose quotes Mark Provost, a manager with the Other98%, as saying that Joe Biden could capitalize…
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Maundy Thursday, Love, and Coronavirus
Lent and Coronavirus For many of us, the coronavirus now consumes our thoughts, our dreams, our livelihoods, and even our bodies. People feel betrayed or abandoned. Though there are pockets of the world the virus hasn’t touched, chaos is widespread. While some of us are working round the clock to supply overwhelmed medical systems, and others are struggling to keep grocery stores supplied and stocked, and still others are caring for the sick and vulnerable, millions of us have lost jobs or businesses. Our gig economy has shattered. We are forced inside, left with little but our electronic communities, and those without internet connections don’t have even that. Ironically, it…
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Spring, Coronavirus, and Pulling Together
Spring and COVID-19 Looking out my office window, I see sunshine brightening the green of the sprouting grass. Dandelions bloom, the dogwood tree leafs out, birds dart around the yard seeking sticks and down and bark to build nests that will shelter the eggs that hold new life. It is Spring, and the world is being made anew. But what kind of world will it be? With COVID-19 sweeping throughout the globe, we are facing new threats and new opportunities. Some people are frightened; some blasé, perhaps thinking nothing bad will ever happen to them. Yet it is not only the elderly and those with chronic illness who are at…