Between Hope and Social Distancing

This week COVID-19 virus predominated the daily scenario, as well. All the news talked mostly about that. If think you have seen the slogan: “Social distancing = communism” – and the other one – “Sacrifice is a weakness”. Only few examples of the protest we had in United States against “social distancing measures” adopted by many governments around the world.

Moreover, we attended a comedy show when Trump said that we can try to inject the disinfectant to cure the virus… what? When I heard for the first time this news, I thought was a fake, but then unlikely I found out that it was true! How can a president talk about that? Is he not aware of his words’ risks? Sounds a similar choice when he suggested a malaria’s treatment to cure the Coronavirus, people died for that advice… in which school did Trump study medicine?

In this week, we celebrated also, the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day. April 22nd, 1970, was the first event! Fifty years later, the COVID-19 pandemic is the starkest example of natural disasters foretold but not prepared for. The destruction of unique habitats, logging of rainforests and consumption of displaced wildlife has led to most of our recent viral outbreaks, from AIDS and Ebola to the Coronavirus. This only confirms the scientific consensus that human health and prosperity depend on a healthy environment. To put it in the words of Pope Francis: “we believed we could live healthy in a sick world”, but we were wrong.

As a result, there was a big flood in Republic Democratic of Congo: more than 3.500 houses destroyed and more than 77.000 people displaced… but no one told about that in the news, because we are only concerned about the Coronavirus… instead, this is the time to say: we are adding fuel to the fire! Coronavirus didn’t stop the injustices around the world, perhaps it has made them even more prominent.

Changing the subject, April 24th started the Ramadan season for our Muslims friends. It could sound like a joke, but in this time where everybody is locked at home, seems that we are closer than the “normal life” we were used to. In effect, both the Ramadan for Muslim and Lent for Christians happened during this secluding time. It might seem a strange coincidence, but actually, it is another instance that help us to see that we are together on the same boat.

How to see all these events with the hope’s sight?

The Gospel of John can help us in this situation, we are in the chapter 3, where he says:

“though the light has come into the world, people have preferred darkness to the light… but whoever does the truth comes out into the light, so that what he is doing may plainly appear as done in God.” (Jn 3:19b,21)

Though we are living a dark moment of the history, we have to remember that we are born for the light: we need good news, we cannot survive only listening to bad ones. Without hope or creativity we cannot survive.

Because the light is the love, and the love is always creative! I hope you can look at this new week with this light: the light of love.

May the creative light of the love shine in the darkness of this pandemic time through you!

My friends, have a good week with this new outlook… Because the life is always a matter of outlook!

Dialogue Matters - Interview with an Expert in the Interfaith Dialogue

Mission OutlookBy Pietro Rossini, SXApr 08, 2021