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A New Reality

20/4/2020

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There’s a prophecy in Tibetan Buddhism which says that when life on earth is in danger the Shambahla kingdom emerges. It’s a hidden kingdom brought about by Shambahla warriors who are characterised by compassion and an understanding of the interrelatedness of all things. It’s a concept very close to the idea in Christianity which talks about the Kingdom of God, also a hidden reality and recognised in compassion, wisdom, justice and, I would add, integrity. These four virtues or values are engraved on the Mace in the Scottish Parliament and described by Donald Dewar the first First Minister as the foundations of the new Scotland. Not many people will think in terms of Shambahla warriors or workers for the Kingdom of God but they witness to it in so far as they live a life of love, compassion and solidarity with others.
 
At this moment of uncertainty and, for some, danger there’s evidence that this hidden kingdom, whether you call it Shambahla or of God, is alive and well. There’s a new sense of community and neighbourliness, a recognition of and gratitude for those working in the National Health Service and Social Care, a determination to keep family relationships alive and well, a concern for the homeless, the elderly, the isolated, a desire to volunteer and help out.  It’s not everywhere of course and there are still accounts in the news of muggings, violence and selfishness. There are people for whom social distancing and any sense of lockdown is horrific, especially if living with someone of a violent nature so that frustration can then erupt in abuse.  But the goodness is tangible and people are commenting on it even though they wouldn’t use religious concepts to describe it.
 
Like families, religious communities are having to adapt to the new situation that we all find ourselves in. And they are doing it, like others, through the use of technology. But in doing this they continue to be what they have always been – basically a support to one another. I’m aware of this because there have been some requests from local and even national government to ask what faith communities are doing to cope with Covid 19 as though we have to set up new systems or somehow don’t know how to respond. There have been virtual interfaith meetings to talk about it and from what I can gather I think we are all doing rather well. Of course I know my own community best but what is happening in the Catholic Church seems to be happening in other faith communities.
 
Essential to all faith communities is common worship or practice.  For some not getting to their place of worship is difficult and they miss their community. But technology has brought services and prayer moments right into people’s homes. In the Catholic community most parishes are now live streaming their services, some each day but certainly on Sundays.  Some priest say Mass in their empty Church but, in the parish that I am attached to, the Mass is said in the small oratory in the priest’s home. This gives it a sense of intimacy somehow and even allows parishioners to sign in and show they are present through the internet. And what’s interesting is that more people seem to be tuning in that might actually attend in person. Some churches have record attendance. Shrewsbury Cathedral recorded an attendance of 11,446 over Easter with some tuning in from as far away as the United States – an increase of 1,044 per cent.  
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There are difficulties of course and one of the most difficult is conducting funerals. The present legislation means that burials or cremations take place without the usual religious service and apart from the support of the community. This all adds to the grief of the family and also of the priest who is having to cope with a totally new reality. In my parish the priest has daily podcasts in which he keeps parishioners in touch with his own fears and insecurities, his love and concern for the community, the births and deaths occurring in the neighbourhood; he asks for prayers for the deceased and their relatives; he gives news of the community; he asks people to send in concerns and intentions for prayer and he promises to remember these in his own prayer, private and public. And people respond through Facebook, offering love and support, appreciating all these efforts to strengthen the community.  
 
And all of this and more is being replicated in other Churches and faith communities who are trying to live out their community life in new and innovative ways - and grateful to modern technology for making it possible.  Community life will be alive and well, perhaps even strengthened, when our self-isolation is over. What rejoicing there will be when eventually we’re able to greet and hug one another in person. Let’s hope that might happen soon.
  

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Friend or Foe?

7/4/2020

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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”; so begins Charles Dicken’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.  It feels a bit like that today as the world grapples with a deadly virus that is causing havoc to a way of life that we’ve come to take for granted.  We see businesses closing, people fearing for their livelihood, families cooped up together, not being able to celebrate with their wider family the great feasts of Easter and Pesach that are taking place this week. Others stranded far from home unable to get flights back from abroad. Some glad to be safe at home but lonely and fearful, not being able to cope while others are afraid to be at home as domestic abuse incidents increase.  Some are wise and keep to government guidelines set out for our safety, others are foolish and break them, some are generous in helping others while others stockpile out of fear and insecurity. And for many families there is the pain of bereavement made worse by their inability to accompany their loved ones into death or be at their funerals.

The world is in crisis and it is a global crisis with shows us so clearly how interconnected we all are and vulnerable to hidden threats such as Covid19. It’s not the first virus to cause havoc. We’ve had viruses such as SARS and Ebola before and we’ve been warned that a pandemic was likely at some point.  And yet it seems to have taken us by surprise. Yes, we are in crisis. We are at a critical point, a turning point for our race if we are able to learn the lessons that this virus affords us. Many of us talk about getting back to normal, back to business as usual.  But it is business as usual that has in a way introduced this virus into our societies.

Covid- 19 may have begun in Wuhan, in the ‘wet’ markets that sell live rare and exotic animals and have little concern for health and safety. But this is only one instance of how we as a race have not lived in harmony with nature. Before corona there was real talk of our extinction if we didn’t heed the instances of climate change. Now the universe has shown us how well it will survive without us. There are blue skies in Beijing, clear canals in Venice and the ozone layer is healing. Scientists tell us that the universe will always seek equilibrium and it’s sobering to see it doing that without our interference. And what if we don’t heed this warning?  Well the effects of climate change could be even more deadly than the virus we’re tackling at present.  

Joanna Macey talks of three approaches to our world – business as usual, the Great Unravelling and the Great Turning.  We know business as usual will not work nor will we in the west be able to return to our materialistic and consumerist cultures which often sustained themselves at the expense of those in developing countries.  We have known for some time that this way of life is unsustainable. We see clearly the Great Unravelling as the death toll rises, as equipment and protective clothing are in short supply, as businesses and companies go into liquidation, as our usual way of socialising is disrupted, as we are separated from our families etc – an unravelling that was already happening but not heeded and in some instances not even noticed. 

But corona also shows us that in the midst of this Great Unravelling is the Great Turning. We have so many examples of people volunteering to help, nurses and doctors exhausting themselves in caring for patients, emergency hospitals being built, neighbours showing a concern and looking out for one another, contacting friends and family by telephone and through the internet, finding ways of working from home, enjoying time with our children. All this shows that when the chips are down we care about one another; that our common humanity is core and that together we can respond to a common threat; that in the face of a common crisis other identities and rivalries take second place.  In places like Israel and Palestine there has even been a secession of hostilities replaced by cooperation in tackling the virus.

We have discovered a new way of working. Will we learn its lessons? When all this is over will we remember our common humanity and seek to dialogue rather than wage war, will we recognise that material possessions are not what matter in life and simplify our way of living, will we transform polluting industries and have a care for the environment in future economic growth, will we use global relations for cooperation rather than competition?   The future is ours, what will we do with it? 

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    I am  a Catholic nun, involved in interfaith relations for many decades.  For me this has been an exciting and sacred journey which I would like to share with others.

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