On Monday, in a Facebook and Twitter livestream program, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. A. Fauci, and the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. F. Collins, both offered a reassuring message about American's ability to endure and come through the Pandemic. While they re-emphasized the importance of "the simple and straightforward" recommendations: wearing masks, social distancing, frequent hand washing, and avoiding cramped spaces indoors, they both spoke to the importance of attitude. Dr. Collins encouraged us all to have confidence in our ability to see the process through-- to "keep your optimism, your hope and do the right thing." Dr. Fauci urged people to stop the "binary" thinking that sees following health protocols as obstacles to reopening the economy and creates an attitude of "it's us against them". Rather, he emphasized seeing "the public health effort as a vehicle and a pathway to get to safe reopening” and the clarity to see that indeed, "we are all in this together".
It struck me how well their comments reinforce some of the ideas that I have presented here in these posts as essential to a spiritual focus in the Pandemic: Healing the Pandemic is a unitive process--Life's one movement bringing waves of change. Spiritually, we can choose to view this as one healing movement, or we can see it as endless conflict leading to doom.
We can continue to "feed the Light" as we affirm our personal health and resilience, and the continued supply of all that is needed to thrive. Then extend that affirmation to all. We can affirm our willingness and capacity to follow health practices with good judgement and wisdom as the pathway to "reopening" our lives and the lives of all. And we can affirm the creative possibilities that even now are revealing themselves to us and others, bringing unexpected solutions as our world heals. (Susan Nettleton)