Come on folks, we can do this….
United Nations Covid response
I feel like Rick Mercer wanting to rant a bit concerning the Covid Pandemic. We have been on this journey for eight months. In the beginning, we all felt it would pass like the flu. But that has not been the case. This virus, the enemy we can’t see, can kill us. But why do we seem so ready to tempt fate and ignore the very simple and possible guidance we hear day after day about washing hands, social distancing, wearing a face mask, and stay home? It is not perfect, but these behaviours can make a huge difference. I don’t understand why so many seem to ignore or push against this simple guidance.
Those who claim these guidelines are violating my rights, I want to ask what if exercising your rights are endangering me or others around me? Our rights are not absolute, nor are they only personal. These human rights assume we live in communal settings and we have to balance the personal and the communal. We must work together.
Are these guidelines inconvenient? Yes, sometimes they are, but we are strong enough and mature enough to weigh what will benefit all of us. Are we tired of the impact this virus has had on our lives? Yes, but if we value our own lives, and the lives of loved ones, and neighbours in the towns and cities and rural areas around us, we can encourage each other to keep living in safety. And we know that many scientists working in labs in Canada and other countries are working long hours to find a vaccine to help all of us. The motto we see on TV in our schools, at our health care facilities, and in our businesses, and written on sidewalks in chalk by children – WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER – are not empty words. We need to listen to each other, see the multiple perspectives that need to be considered, and we can hang in together until a vaccine is available to help us resume our usual activities. In the meantime, help each other at home, call a neighbor or friend and family member, facetime or zoom someone you care about, and encourage each other. And as we all stay close to home in the weeks ahead, we will get through this. And those of us for whom faith is important, we can turn to those spiritual centres within and find some peace and calm to help us through the day. Really all we have is the present moment and it can teach us a lot about ourselves, and it is full of many blessings.
-Sister Joan Atkinson, CSJ