Faith During a Pandemic
For many of us, this Corona virus pandemic is a very new experience. We all have struggles, sufferings, and crises throughout our individual lives, but we are all experiencing the communal and cultural crisis together at this time. You can feel the anxiety in the air. The invisible little virus creatures seem to be creeping up on us all. And panic is clearing store shelves and leaving us wondering if we are safe or if we need to join the hoarding induced chaos every time we visit a store.
As humans have always done in the face of threat and anxiety, we turn to faith, spirituality, and religion for answers, protection, and comfort. Sadly, as ego-centered people, living in an immature ego-centered culture which tends to create ego-centered religious beliefs and practices, one of our first instincts is to pray for "protection" and to be spared from the troubles and sufferings that others are experiencing. Some of our hoarding behavior is certainly born out of this same impulse - my health, my food, my toilet paper, my supplies, my well-being, my future all come before that of others. Sadly, our prayer life and spiritual practices can easily be expressions of this very small and self-focused way of being.
Perhaps this crisis can invite us to something more significant, a way of existing within God's love and work that is deeper and more Christ-like. As followers of Christ and as those who are awake to participation with and in Christ this is a poignant time for participating in Christ inspired spiritual practice both personally and in caring action toward others and the world. This attitude can inspire many rich, loving, and caring spiritual practices.
Here are a few such possibilities (knowing that there are many more):
• Pray with focused awareness on those who are sick, caring for the sick, and deeply scared for their lives and well-being.
• Don't interact with others in a way that could spread the virus to people who are vulnerable. Even if you are young and healthy, be aware that your actions matter for the lives of others.
• Continue to practice your contemplative prayer and mindfulness disciplines. These practices create the habit of grounded faith and non-reaction. Focus on the truth that as you sit praying you are okay, safe, and held dearly by God.
• Don't hoard what you truly don't need. Being scared that you might need something and thus taking it from someone who actual needs it is not an act of faith. For example, I was in a doctor's office this morning and they said that they do not have enough products to sterilize their medical environment due to hoarding.
• Ask neighbors if you can be of any help such as grocery shopping for elders or those who may be ill or in a more compromised and vulnerable state than you are.
• Each time you wash your hands, be thankful for the health care system with which we are privileged and remember those who don't have such a privilege. Remember the poor, the scared, the sick, and those in countries whose governments are incapable of being of help in any significant way at this time.
• Support those who are providing health care for others. They are likely overworked, stressed, and scared and need a listening ear and help with basics such as shopping or child care.
• Tend to your relationships even if it means gathering online or by phone instead of in person. Community, love, and relationships are vital parts of faithful living.
• Spend your extra time at home reading books, articles, blogs, etc. that encourage awareness of the Spirit and love toward others. Don't spend all your time reading hyped news which is designed to keep you reading and coming back over and over again. Care well for your time and don't consider it as time that must be wasted or filled mindlessly.
Above all, find ways of loving others in your unique way and circumstance, and put the needs of those around you as equal to your own (and even more important than your own in many cases).
This time of crisis can be a time of strengthening that impulse of love, compassion, and active care that is the primary outward expression of God's inner presence.
May we all be challenged deeply at this time so that we can be rooted in faith and active in love.
Kirk Webb
Director, The Celtic Center