Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, March 22, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go here for an audio version and a song<\/a>. Read on for a written version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I had a different message planned.\nIt was gonna be really great, by the way. It has stories and quotes. I was even\ngonna play a song for you at the end. The message came to me a month ago. I\ncalled Martha and said, \u201cI got one for ya!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was a month ago. That message was\nnot about coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried to hang onto that message. I told\nmyself, \u201cWell that\u2019s okay. I\u2019ll start this morning by telling everyone that\nthis message is not about coronavirus. I\u2019m gonna give you all a break and take\nyou to a different place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But a new message has come to me. It\u2019s\nabout coronavirus. This is the place where we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I struggled with, you know, what\nmessage to give – still hanging onto the old – I realized that the things I\nhave to say about coronavirus are things that might be hard to say or even\nimpossible to say a few weeks from now. The time is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Quakers we\u2019re supposed to be open, and\nproceed as way opens. I\u2019m trying to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I am going to tack on a little song\nat the end. I love singing in this place and I think you might like it. Okay\nready? I hope so. Let’s hold on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if the virus is medicine? What if\nthe virus helps and heals, rather than hurts and harms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine a little chat between the\nMistress of the Universe and the Master of the Universe. Reading the morning\npaper back in November 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know? Earth is in trouble?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know! Those people are going to burn\nthe place up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think we should do something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t know, maybe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like what? What would we do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t know. Something, something that\nslows them down for gods sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right, and maybe…maybe it should start small and slow and give them plenty of time to adapt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right yeah, but it needs to be something\nthat has real impact. You know, give nature a serious break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh yeah, totally. We should do something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hmm. Want to try the old plant a microbe\ntrick? We could start with just one microbe in one person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That might work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well you do it this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No you do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, okay maybe I can get to it next\nweek. Right, well this will be interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pass the toast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a provocative conversation, I\nknow. The idea that God is intervening to save the earth. The idea that God is intentionally\ncurtailing a specific species to save the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m simply offering a different point of\nview. Looking at this from a different perspective. My little “Mr. and\nMrs. Universe” conversation; I don’t mean to make light of this crisis. It\nis going to get bad. This is going to have real implications for real people.\nPeople are going to get sick and people are going to die. And when that starts\nhappening it would have been way harder to bring this message. It is easier to\ntalk at a high level before stuff gets real on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let’s talk. What if the virus is\nmedicine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some good things are happening. I heard\nthat in the Wuhan Province, where the virus started, people are seeing blue\nskies for the first time. Some people there have never seen blue skies in their\nwhole lifetime. People are hearing songbirds for the first time. For some\npeople, the first time hearing a bird in their whole lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The great global industrial machine that\nscoops up natural resources and spits out pollution is being slowed down.\nGrinding to a halt in some places. Nature is being given a chance to recover,\nto heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I look out the window of my house, I\nsee people out walking more than ever\nbefore. I bet that we are all seeing that. Carol and I have noticed a fox\nhunting in the field. We have time to notice. It is kind of fun, the fox tends\nto show up about 6 o’clock every night. We’ve gotten to calling it Fox News!\nIt’s way better than the other Fox News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fishing season usually opens April first,\nbut have you heard that our governor changed the rule? She’s encouraging us to\ngo fishing now. Do what Mainers do and get out on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw two photographs on Facebook, side\nby side, maybe you have seen this too? The parking lot at Wolfe’s Neck State\nPark in Freeport: full. The parking lot at L.L.Bean in Freeport: empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isn’t this the world that some of us have\nbeen hoping for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m simply offering another way to look\nat it. Another perspective. In my work, and running Make Shift Coffee Houses-\nyou know I have learned that there is always another perspective. Always\nanother valid perspective. You could say that is it just a matter of\nperspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And a matter of values. It’s really a\nclassic dichotomy, one of the great yin yangs of our existence: “me\nfirst” or “we first?” Do I want to help me? (Hoard toilet paper)\nOr do I want to help my community? (Give toilet paper.) Do I want to help my\nbusiness? Or do I want to help the economy for everyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These questions go on. Do I want my race\nto thrive? Or do I want my species to thrive? How big is the perspective? When\nwe ask that question, “me first” or “we first”, how big is\nthe me? How big is the we? Do I want my species to thrive, or do I want the\nworld ecosystem, mother earth to thrive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are not simple choices, and it’s\nnever just one thing or the other. And, I change my answers depending on a\nsituation, depending on what answers I find within. Sometimes, I’m all about\n“me first”. Sometimes I’m all about my neighborhood first, my people\nfirst. Sometimes I’m all about “we first;\u201d I’m all about my community, my\nearth community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m not bringing you an answer. I’m\nbringing you a question: What if the virus is medicine? This is our Quaker\ntradition, to bring questions and encourage you to look within for the answers.\nHonestly, I was afraid to bring you this question. So many of us are dealing\nwith so many hard questions right now. And here’s another one! My thinking is,\nthat if you and I can get even a smidge of clarity on this question, it might help\nwith some other questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Quakers we try to be always open to\nother views, always open to questions, and are led to proceed as way opens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, March 22, 2020 Go here for an audio version and a song. Read on for a written version. Well, I had a different message planned. It was gonna be really great, by the way. … Continue reading