COVID-19 has proved a testing disease that has torn the hearts out of communities worldwide. There have been wide discrepancies in suffering. Not only in the degree of loss and pain but also in how we respond to this pandemic. Those doctors and nurses who have seen the virus up close, as in Italy for example, have had to make decisions about who will live and who will die due to a shortage of ventilators. Elderly and those with immune-compromised systems have been isolated at moments when fear and vulnerability is at its height. If hospitalized with COVID their loved ones could well not see them again. Sometimes we do lose the people we love. It is hard to cope with at the best of times but it is compounded by not being able to be with them as they face death. Not being able to hold a hand, stroke a brow or whisper words of love it feels a betrayal of seismic proportions. Even those in the medical world who watch them die, despite all their efforts, the anguish is causing mental strain whose impact will continue in the months or years ahead.
But whether you have lost a loved one or been treating a dying patient another unbearable anguish is added by those who have experienced neither and speak in tones of hurtful ignorance about what is happening. Misinformation and distortion of facts have compounded an already serious situation. Especially when used for political or personal agendas rather than the public good. I have been shocked by how hurtful it is to read nonsense in such dire circumstances.
One understands that since different parts of the world are experiencing different degrees of suffering it is only natural that portions of the human population has remained untouched and are perplexed at all the fuss. Those who now have no sources of income and are facing poverty and hunger need to be understood and heard in these critical times. What I cannot understand is the unwillingness to search for truth but to cherry-pick whatever point of view that suits a particular agenda. Never in my life have I blocked so many online friends and family due to them posting dismissive messages about COVID being a hoax, a fantasy. Having seen the effect of COVID up close I cannot stomach their strange ability to ignore the suffering of so many. It crosses a line that I never thought would be breached.
I sense we are looking at different worlds and coming to alternative truths. On one level I know logically that it won’t be until years later will we be able to see clearly what was done right and what were complete mistakes. It is far too early to call such nuances now. But surely in the face of such suffering, it is the barefaced lack of compassion and humility exhibited that brings gut-wrenching despair. To all those who have suffered, are suffering or will suffer may you encounter kindness and compassion in these strange days. Meanwhile, may all of us summon up enough courage and patience to be of service to those in need.
