The corona conundrum

The world has entered into an unprecedented crisis precipitated by an invisible organism.Much to the dismay of the people the virus has literally held hostage nations and continents in its sway.As i follow the developments which happen around the world and in my country i am deeply reminded of the various crises which has hit our nation in the past.For a nation which is already in a state of intense flux with political turmoil , economic slowdown, religious intolerance and brazen injustice and callous instituitons and structures, this nationwide lockdown has come at a time of misfortune ,compounding the misery on the poor and vulnerable.At this moment i would like to pause and reflect on certain questions which come across my mind

Consciousness of the divine- Where is god when it hurts?

The situation which has developed around the world has left an indelible impact in the minds of the people atheists and theists alike regarding the existence and providence of god. While the atheists use the situation to advance the argument to deny the existence of a god who is probably impotent to take control of the situation , the theists and christians all over the world are called to action on various fronts in the name of god himself and care for the vulnerable and the displaced .The knee jerk response from the church has been immediate action in all fronts in the past.Though its very much justifiable i think there should be a fair bit of contemplation on the spirituality behind this crises.

The epicenter of the crises started from a meat industry in China when a mysterious fever was traced to the workers who were in contact with this industry. This is not the first time a disease pandemic is associated with a meat industry and the SARS virus which again originated in china in 2002 was traced to civets (a cat like mammal) .Even the current corona virus is postulated to arise from an unknown animal reservoir (bats perhaps).I wonder is that the reason god had ordained only plant foods for man before the fall.According to the bible humans started eating meat only when Noah could not find any plants for consumption when he came out of the arc after the flood subsided.I wonder if this pandemic could have been avoided if the Chinese had been Vegans!A rash thought indeed,but i couldnt help it.The point is not spiritualising vegetarianism but the thought that whenever a divine order is violated there ought to be consequences.We humans have violated and desecrated earth by our greedy consumption leading to extinction of animals,pollution of air and water ,cutting down forests and increasing global warming.We have ceased to be mindful of the order of peaceful coexistence with nature and earth which god has created.

As Mr Sampath wrote in his satirical column in Hindu newspaper,we humans have replaced dinosaurs as the apex predators devouring anything and everything natural in this earth unmindful of peaceful coexistence neither with humans nor with animals .No wonder he exclaims” its the trun of the nature to strike back , sending humans into detention camps(lockdown)!”.

I assume god is watching this war between homosapiens and nature with expectation.But his own precious creation at war with each other is a painful sight for a creator .We must learn to live in peaceful cohabitation with trees,animals and plants mindful of the divine order which was placed on the first human to restore balance to this broken world. Hopefully things will take a turn for the better as we do it averting the next major health disaster.

As the doomsday prophets and televangelists are busy pronouncing judgement on the world by god i am reminded of the incident at Siloam when a tower fell on 18 people and killed them .When enquired the Son of god only exhorted people to repent instead of perishing likewise!I am not sure whether God or the evil one is behind the current crises but the message is clear that i should take stock of my spirit, body and soul lest i perish!

Communing with the Vulnerable

At this moment of national lockdown ,debates go back and forth regarding the efficacy of the lockdown as a strategy to contain the virus .An unprepared lockdown which is unmindlful of the people who live in the margins of the society will only cause more isolation and pain for the vulnerable of the society, especially people who work in unorganised sector such as the migrant laborers,elderly and the destitutes.At this juncture as a responsible indian citizen i should see where i can extend my services to the poor and the needy.I am ashamed to say that the community i am part of now is least bothered about the vulnerable and its only keen on getting their daily home provisons through whattsapp!I feel we should actively seek out the vulnerable and deploy relief measures such as food packets ,providing daily rations etc to tide over the crises.We can top up the salary of our house maids whose children and spouses are jobless due to the lockdown and provide daily essentials from our house free of cost.After all they dont have the luxury of social media support to provide for their needs.

As Jean Dreze the noted french economist points out , the current crisis is not only a health disaster but an economic disaster as well.And as in any crises the least affected are the affluent and the most affected are the marginalised and vulnerable such as the people from informal sector.

Closing the gaps - Will we learn our lessons?

Crisis such as this is a great leveller on humanity.It is a blind fury unleashed upon the mankind affecting the privileged and marginalised alike .As one cartoon in a leading daily put it, in order for the world to notice climate change the best way is to affect the rich and affluent! In a similar vein the virus did not spare the leaders of the nation nor the layman on the streets.In a country like India where human life is treated as a cheap commodity for the vulnerable will the powers that be make systems and measures to mitigate the suffering of the poor?

This is the time to reflect upon our broken public health systems and device remedial measures,strengthen social security measures for the common man such as the PDS,PM-KISAN and MNREGA etc.This is the time for the church to preach the message of the harvest to send its flock to the nook and corners of the country to flavor the nation and society.

The inequality of health care and economic disparities which plague the nation must be dealt with honest appraisal of ground realities and sincere remedial measures.

Coming of the light – waiting for the great hope

Rutledge Fleming wrote about the advent season and the process of waiting .He writes thus

“Standing in the Light of the Christ child in the manger is more comfortable than waiting in the shadow of what is to come because in waiting we relinquish control of the agenda. In our waiting during Advent we are acknowledging the limitedness with which we can predict and control God’s acts of grace. “

In this time of crisis, as we wait with crossed fingers about the post pandemic scenario and silently observe the fight against the disease , we who know the beauty of hope are also called to wait in expectation of gods mercy to fall on us .As Rutledge says,waiting is a humbling process ,ackowledging our limitedness ,as we waited for advent once for the messiah to break in .We cannot have any agenda and take pride in the power of our systems to break in but the unimaginable light of god to break inthis world amidst the chaos and instability and also during post pandemic to light our lives and guide us to our end .

May our god guide me to be conscious of the divine (mystery),commune with the weak ,learn my lessons and close the gap and wait in hope for the coming light.Amen