Friday, January 8, 2021

Local Issues and Goals for 2021

 

This was submitted to the Ramona Sentinel, and a portion was published on January 6, 2021

 

What are the biggest issues Ramona faces in 2021 and why?

 

I think the biggest issues faced by our community have to do with the situational application of the main themes of the Serenity Prayer.  Having courage to do the things which are in our power, while having serenity about the things over which we have no control in this pandemic which confronts us as individuals, as churches, as businesses, as families, governing bodies, and as educational institutions.  The biggest issue which faces us is the uncertainty about how the changing situations of the pandemic are going to impinge upon our existence.  It is one thing to ask for serenity to accept the things that we cannot control, but the pandemic requires that we just keep accepting things that we cannot control for a very uncertain period of time whose duration is still very much a mystery.  In more ordinary grief situations, there are caregivers and support teams who are not a part of the impact of the loss.  The pandemic is so embracing and widespread to everyone, there is no one who is outside of the crisis to be modeling what “normal life” is like now outside of the crisis.

 

The biggest issue for us in 2021 is what I would call the maintenance of serenity as we face things over which we have no control.

 

Accepting things that we cannot control?  That is what the serenity project would be.  And when everyone is partaking of the same crisis with no outside caretakers who are exempt from all of the elements of the crisis, what can we do?  We have already seen much community discord instigated by the pandemic crisis.  We have seen the typical reactions to loss, including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and more.  In the continuing losses of this pandemic crisis, it is easy to be swayed by the emotions and the feelings of continual loss.

 

What is the outside mentor for us during a crisis in which all of us are trapped?  Science.  Science is the best method of actuarial wisdom which involves eschewing feelings to apply the methods of statistical approximation.  With dispassion, one asks what are the probabilities based upon what we heretofore know?  In medicine, in business, in education, in politics, in emergency planning we allow ourselves to be guided by the very best actuarial wisdom.  It does not mean that we always get every response to probable outcomes correct, but it is the collaborative processing of best research and practical application of the same.

 

While it may sound very theoretical to say, look to science, we get the most practical advice on behaviors from the scientific communities.  And if we don’t think that we can trust what a political leader or pastor advises, then the most practical spokespersons are the doctors and nurses who are not dealing with a theoretical virus; they experience the immediate outcome of the pandemic and they are the most credible authorities.

 

What goals do you hope to accomplish in Ramona in 2021?

 

Since I am a priest who believes I can be a poet and scientist at the same time without contradiction, my goals would to be articulate faith as a way to promote the best practices for our community’s response to the changing conditions forced upon us by the pandemic, at its full tide effect and as it ebbs in its power.  Faith at its root means what one is persuaded about to the degree of unifying the total person in action toward hopeful outcomes.  A community goal would be to gain greater unity together in our persuasion about safe behaviors in our community.  A goal would be for us to understand the conditions of forced fasting from so many habits that we’ve taken for granted.  We have lost and had to give up so many things.  A religious fast has an intentionality about it.  A goal would be to teach us how we can come to meaning regarding what we are losing.  The main meaning might be the attaining of an empathy for people in our world who have lived prolonged deprived lives as their ordinary staple of existence.  A goal would be for us to develop appreciation for a different kind of presence, the virtual presence of Zoom meetings, phone calls, and other ways of reaching out.  We can appreciate that virtual presence is derived from the real face to face presence.  Another goal is to “take notes” on what we are learning in the times of our deprivation; what will we retain to bring with us to assist our regathering in better ways?  How much burning of fossil fuels has been saved by Zoom meetings?  Virtual meetings can actually expand participation because of ease of instant connection.  Another goal would be to visualize what the future fondness of gathered community will be like since the absence has intensified the heart’s fondness.  Another goal would be to do some American self-examination, as we compare how other countries have dealt with the pandemic: Would we rather sacrifice 1-2 persons per thousand for the sake of our open gathering habits?  What does that tell us about ourselves?  In 2021, a community goal should be to look at who is dying the most in the pandemic, and why are certain groups of people dying more than others?  Will it indicate that we unevenly divide the rewards and punishment for people in our country, because some have been forced to live more closely in harm’s way for economic reasons?  A further reality goal in 2021 will be to convince people that we are in a marathon and not a hundred-yard dash, so we have to be prepared to run accordingly.  The goal is endurance, and most of all, the practice of how best to endure together.









No comments:

Post a Comment

The Spirituality of the Passion

Good Friday   March 29, 2024 Gen 22:1-18 Ps 22 Heb.10:1-25 John 18:1-19:37 Lectionary Link On Good Friday, it is a good time to remind ourse...