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.

Letting go of fear, choosing change

If you're not living with a sense of unease in these days of the corona virus, I suspect you're more the exception than the rule. I'm already tired of the word "unprecedented" and all the other words like it.

While it's true that our current generations have never been though anything like this pandemic, it's also important to remember that there have always been people around the globe and even in our own neighbourhoods who have lived with forms of uncertainty and fear that we have never known.

But suddenly, we are all in the same boat with Covid-19, which doesn't respect the nice little boxes into which we have placed ourselves. No matter who we are, our lives have changed and are changing because of this epidemic, and it seems that those of us who have lived in relatively secure comfort all our lives are most discomfited by all these things that are suddenly beyond our control.

The virus is frightening enough. It's killing people. What it means for our future is also frightening, because we know that nothing will be the same.

But rather than be engulfed by fear, and its companions, greed and suspicion, I prefer to look at this time as a God-given opportunity to think about the kind of world we want to inhabit once we live beyond the virus. This is a moment when we may have an opportunity to "RESET" our future. And here are some questions I've been asking myself about it all:

During and after Covid-19, can we better care for those who have always been marginalized?

During and after Covid-19, can we choose interdependence over individualism?

During and after Covid-19, can we better care for all of creation?

During and after Covid-19, can we value every person as an equal?

During and after Covid-19, can we re-evaluate and put less emphasis on money and economic growth?

During and after Covid-19, can we put truth and reconciliation to work and re-build stronger relationships with our Original Peoples?

During and after Covid-19, can we choose to live with just enough?

During and after Covid-19, can we re-develop our society into one where everyone works as best they can and everyone is provided a universal basic income that provides for their needs?

During and after Covid-19, can we rebuild our education, healthcare, justice, and social systems so no one falls through the cracks?

During and after Covid-19, can we become more cooperative and less competitive?

During and after Covid-19, can we forgo past teachings about what’s important and replace them with what we are discovering to be truly important?

During and after Covid-19, can we cut climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation by simplifying our lifestyles, living with less and Being more?

During and after Covid-19, can we hold onto the lessons we are learning about community, generosity, togetherness, friendship, love, laughter, nature, and all the things we take for granted, but especially our health?

As I ask myself these questions, I see some of this work already beginning. Many of our politicians have set aside their differences and ideologies to do what's best for the common good. I cheer them on, and will probably write them a few letters of encouragement with suggestions for our collective future.

We still have a long way to go to get through this epidemic, and many heartbreaks and struggles to come, but rather than living in fear, let's imagine the world we really want and move forward with it foremost in our minds.

It's time to let go of our fear and choose the change we want to see in our world.