Day 21
For some, Easter has passed them by (it would have been even wierder if this had happened over Christmas) but there is something that fits seamlessly into the CoVID narrative. What’s particularly striking is the manner in which 3 aspects of the crisis impact us as a society and how those themes are echoed in the Easter story.
I need to begin with the 2nd theme. There has been much observation of cleaner air, birdsong in cities, dolphins in Venice and many other examples of the environment being given a season off and basking in the forced environmental controls that have simply been a consequence of less air travel and industrial activity — its own sabbath or jubilee.
The 1st is how our environment and our societies have been exploited in order to accumulate wealth and power into a few hands, submitting our planet to torture and ruinous abuse. It has been achieved through theft, injustice and avarice; it rewards the guilty and punishes the innocent. CoVID-19 has supplied the nails; men supplied the cross.
The 3rd theme is: what of the future? Will this all be for nothing and will it simply get worse? Can we be pursuaded to return to something considered as normal or will we grasp the opportunity and refuse to push the tooth paste back into the tube. Will we rise like a phoenix or make do with the ashes.
