Spiritual Lessons From the Coronavirus Pandemic

Excerpt

This Editorial is being written from my study here in the Hudson Valley in Westchester County just north of New York City. Here I am, as I imagine many of you are, getting used to the “new normal” imposed by the pandemic of the coronavirus. It is a jarring process to get used to the restraint this puts upon us: no movies, no shopping trips, and no evenings out with friends. When we look at our current situation with the perspective now of about a week we realize that these inhibitions are at least for now not insurmountable. Meetings are held via ZOOM. There is a superabundance of e-mails from professional sources and contacts. We still can order out from local restaurants, and the post office makes deliveries of things we might need or want. But then we think, first, of those whose lives are truly imperiled beginning with those who have been infected and need care. And what about those who work at jobs that have or will soon disappear. We mourn for those who have yet to have gained a foothold in pursuit of the American dream and for their children. Our own children are grown, but we worry about what may happen to their children. And we look forward to a world here in our sophisticated suburban and urban America that in a relatively short time will look and act very differently. And we wonder. …