A Thanksgiving Reflection (by the WIFE)
We have a new rule in our house. I can't start the day discussing politics or the pandemic. I can't begin with strife if I am to view the rising of the sun like the rising of hope. What seems most clear to me right now is that we, the people living our lives right now, are not special. It is not our fate to live without suffering, Whether its slaves under Pharaoh, Africans chained in boats, Jews in WWII, Londoners during the Blitz, or Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda, unimaginable suffering has happened through the ages, We are no better or more special in some way that absolves us of the possibility of deep tragedy and suffering, There is nothing new going on here, If you are somehow lucky enough to be rich/connected/ powerful in such a way that you are sheltered from the storm, that isn't new either. People paid others to take their place in the Civil War, people used connections to avoid Vietnam. My father in law, a great man who is on his deathbed, stepped up and did his duty in Vietnam as a doctor. His job was to triage, to quickly assess who could be saved and who had to be left to die. Nurses and doctors in ICUs across the country are being asked to do the same right now. This is a terrible and terrifying and sad but it is not new.
Fear, anger, and divisiveness are tightly connected, and amplified by the kind of circumstances in which we find ourselves. But I think instead of screaming at each other, we need to find our humanity and help each other. Like we teach our children at school, we need to ask ourselves; am I a stand-up person or a stand-by person? We need to answer hate and fear with empathy and compassion if this is ever going to end.
We need to try to accept the un-acceptable. Businesses won't make it. People will die. Here in Pitkin County, we have created our own color--Orange Plus. Orange Plus is probably not going to get it done. It's a Hail Mary, a grasping effort to halt the inevitable. Or, maybe, it will be just enough. Who am I to judge?
I do not believe in a cruel God, but I know there were people consigned to life in a wheelchair a week before the polio vaccine became available. There was a last man to die as Armistice was declared. Now, there will be businesses and people irrevocably damaged right before we get a solution to our current problem. Orange Plus is a last gasp effort to fight what might be inevitable, and sometimes we just can't face that. It's too much.
I personally don't think we have that kind of power. Our collective belief in our ability to manipulate the swirling water of life in our chosen direction is overstated. What am I being called to do? What is the next right step for me to take? Those question, and the ability to reach out a helping hand are things I can control. Outcomes? Not so much. My fervent hope for this Thanksgiving is that we an all find ways to help and support each other, with sure knowledge that we are all trying to be our best selves.
Tomorrow I will return to regular programing of bitter sarcasm.
