“it is in the shelter of each other that the people live”(Pádraig Ó Tuama)

Life is not always easy, even in our very affluent and pampered lives in one of the most peaceful and fair countries in the world. Maybe that is why it is so important to remember that even here we need to fight the good fight of bringing love to the challenges we face in life.

We have all weathered a couple of challenging years. And when I say all, this time I can actually include all of humankind. Not all of us have suffered equally in the face of this enemy that has invaded the globe, but on some level it has touched all of us.

My sufferings have been minor. I have been able to see my loved ones, I lost nobody and when the invader entered my body I was well protected and had very minor discomforts. Some have suffered greatly. In their bodies, in their minds and by losing loved ones in excruciatingly painful ways.

When I suffer, my first instinct is to look for an enemy to blame. Blaming an unintelligent microbe just doing what microbes do is an unsatisfying solution. So who can I hold responsible? Who should pay?

Today some wisdom crossed my path to remind me the Master told me to love my enemies. An Irish poet put it this way:

“Love your enemies” I heard in Sunday mass, or in the apocalyptic prayer meetings I attended as a teenager. Enemies changed identity quickly, based on what news station I was listening to late at night when I couldn’t sleep. Eventually I started to stop: to stop believing in enemies, even though the world is cruel. That’s served me well.. “(Pádraig Ó Tuama)

It may seem naive and dangerous to talk about love in the context of the handling of a worldwide pandemic and its consequences. Someone has to be held accountable. And I agree. But what if accountability could be administered in a spirit of love, making it possible to admit shortcomings, looking for ways to learn and grow in stead of to shame and distrust?

It was Sharon Salzberg who inspired me to look to love for the better way. She said:

“The word “love” is so loaded. And our fear, of course, is that it means something very passive and complacent, and I’m going to let people hurt me, and I’m going to let them oppress other people, and I’m going to be a doormat. It’s very hard to see love as a force, as a power rather than as a weakness. But that is its reality.”

Imagine.. lovingly considering those who made wrong decisions doing the best they could, or at least having some good intensions even though they were wrong? Imagine them accepting that to err in some measure is inevitable when we are up against something new, because we are human after all, not all-knowing.

Imagine all the people..picking up the peaces, joining hands to learn and to build a better future

I can see it. not that it will come to pass perfectly.. but since this is what I long for I have determined to imagine

imagine all the people..living life in peace…