
The Coronavirus pandemic is assaulting our health, disturbing our peace of mind and forcing us to question values and priorities. For some it will challenge their core beliefs.
Among the many news items that hit my inbox today was an article urging everyone to get out in the sunshine to absorb some vitamin D and brighten our mood, in anticipation of a possible lockdown, confining us all indoors for a while. In fact I shared a story on social media last week titled “Coronavirus and the Sun: a Lesson from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic” (read the article HERE) which included the line, “sunlight is germicidal and there is now evidence it can kill the flu virus.”
The Coronavirus has also given many of us pause to take stock of our life values. When faced with our mortality, we tend to reflect on our spiritual beliefs and re-examine those non-material goals that we may have said we’ve been too busy to follow through on, up until now.
I see on social media today that a number of New Age teachers are proclaiming this virus as the advent of a new awareness, while others fear it heralds an apocalypse. The pandemic affects both rich and poor alike – though there are concerns the gap of inequity could actually widen in its aftermath.
We each ask our own existential questions: Why has the virus come at this time (particularly for those of us in Australia who have just been through bushfires, droughts and then, for some, floods). Or, how can this be happening to me? Who or what is responsible for creating the problem, and why?
Then comes the uncomfortable inquiry into our authentic selves. Were we truly fulfilled and inspired by what we hitherto considered to be ‘normal’ life? How much time have we been spending doing what we love? Have we repressed our inner passion, getting caught up in the hectic and often meaningless pursuits of modern life? Have we given away too much power to negative forces?
At a time when many are doing physical exercises to stay fit while cooped up indoors, and others find activities to relieve the mental tedium and depressing circumstances of isolation, some of us turn to ‘spiritual exercises.’ The main point I would like to make in this blog is that it is never too late to pursue the path of self-realization.
Read the entire blog article by Paul Young posted online March 30, 2020 at SouthernSunlight.com.