Farewell to 2020

Last walk of 2020

Like many people, I suspect, I've been giving a lot of thought to this year of 2020. There's a lot about it that we have complained about, some of it rightly so. But the bellyaching about minor inconveniences has driven me a little bit bonkers, because most of it has come from people who are very well off in comparison to our essential workers, medical staff, and those who were struggling due to marginalization and injustices since long before the pandemic was declared.

I guess that many of us had certain expectations of 2020, and then when the world was forced to slow down because of COVID-19, some of those expectations were dashed. But how bad was it, really? It was so bad that 1.81 million people have died. That's horrendous for every single person who lost people they love, and there's no getting around that kind of grief.

But... do we still have the love of our family and friends? Do we have a roof over our heads and food on our tables? Have we found new ways of connecting to the people who are important to us? Does nature continue to revive us when we spend time outdoors? Has our earth had a chance to breathe because of a lower level of consumption of its resources? 

No, we probably didn't travel great distances, and we may have sacrificed many things for the sake of the health of people we love, but the fact is that life changes in the blink of an eye all the time, it's just that we generally live in denial about that fact since it hasn't happened on a collective basis in North America since the World Wars.

2020 has been a year where we have been forced to realize that our way of life isn't as secure as we imagined it, and as a result, we have seen both the best and the worst of people. But to me it feels like rather than taking the credit or the blame ourselves for the way things have been going, we are assuming that if we can sweep the old year out the door and get a vaccine, things will automatically be better in the new year. The problem is that if we continue playing fast and loose with the truth, and if our leaders continue to choose wealth over wisdom, we'll be in worse shape yet in a year's time. It's up to us to demand better of ourselves and them.

Remember the cartoons of the old man year being followed by the baby new year? This afternoon, I made my own version of Old Man 2020, with his truthful comment, "But none of this was my fault!" If I was to do a follow up cartoon, I'd definitely remember to put a mask on him, and have the 'old man year' offer counsel to the 'baby new year' along the lines of, "Do your best to develop a thick skin. You'll need it!"

Throughout the year 2020, perhaps we have rediscovered the problem -- we've become a very individualistic society, which hasn't been very helpful in a time when we all need to pull together for the sake of the most vulnerable, and for ourselves. So I was delighted to discover the words of the US civil rights leader, John Lewis, who died earlier this year, in my inbox this morning. And I want to end this difficult year with his words, as an antidote to our individualistic tendencies in North America, and an encouragement toward positive change in 2021:

Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. 

Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. 

Know that the truth always leads to love and the perpetuation of peace.  

Its products are never bitterness and strife. 

Clothe yourself in the work of love, in the revolutionary work of nonviolent resistance against evil. 

Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this planet with goodness. 

Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge.

Release all bitterness.

Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.

Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time, don't be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice.

And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.

-- John Lewis with Brenda Jones, 

Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America 

(Hachette Books: 2017, ©2012), 208.