CORONAVIRUS

For several weeks now, a virus that has been in the headlines around the world has been sowing mistrust and fear, shaking many of our certainties. And what if there was a lesson to be learned from all this?
Our spiritual counselor, Sr. Dolores Aleixandre, shares with us the reflection of an Italian psychiatrist, Raffaele Moretti, on this subject.

‘I believe the universe has a way of rebalancing things according to its own laws when they are disturbed. The times we live in, full of paradoxes, make us think…

At a time when climate change is reaching worrying levels due to natural disasters, China in the first place and many other countries in the second place, are being forced into a blockade; the economy is collapsing, but pollution is decreasing considerably. The quality of the air we breathe is improving, we wear masks, but we are still breathing…

At a historical moment when certain discriminatory policies and ideologies, strongly reminiscent of a shameful past, are resurfacing throughout the world, a virus appears which makes us experience that, in the blink of an eye, we can become the discriminated, those who are not allowed to cross the border, those who transmit diseases. Even if we are not at fault, even if we are white, western and with all sorts of economic luxuries within our reach.

In a society based on productivity and consumption, where we all run 14 hours a day in pursuit of something, without rest, without a break, a forced stop is suddenly imposed on us. Quietly, at home, day after day. Counting the hours of time that we have lost the value of, when they are not measured in retribution in some way or in money. Do we still know how to use our time without a purpose?

At a time when parenthood, for major reasons, is often delegated to other personalities and institutions, the Coronavirus is forcing schools to close and forcing us to look for alternative solutions, to put mom and dad back with their own children. It forces us to become a family again.

In a dimension where interpersonal relationships, communication, socialization, take place in the (non)virtual space, in social networks, giving us the false illusion of closeness, this virus takes away the real closeness, the only real one: that nobody touches, hugs, kisses, everything must be done at a distance, in the coldness of the absence of contact. How much have we taken these gestures and their meaning for granted?

In a social phase where thinking of oneself has became the norm, this virus sends us a clear message: the only way out is to come together, to rekindle in ourselves the feeling of helping others, of belonging to a collective, of being part of something greater for which we are responsible and which is in turn responsible for us. Co-responsibility : feeling that the fate of those around you depends on your actions, and that you depend on them.

Let’s stop looking for blame or wondering why it happened, and start thinking about what we can learn from all this. We all have a lot to think and do. With the universe and its laws it seems that humanity is already quite indebted and that is what this epidemic is coming to explain to us, at an expensive price ».