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Are we ready?
Thoughts and concerns regarding the future
Thoughts and concerns regarding the future
The novel coronavirus has brought an
overwhelming strain on public health systems throughout the world,
causing physical and emotional pain to millions. It has jolted the
world’s economy, bringing on poverty and sparking a global hunger
crisis. It has aroused untamable fear and paranoia, causing
unprecedented political, social and religious contention, together with
rioting, killings, and domestic violence. What overshadows all of this
is the uncertainty of when it will all end.
Epidemiologist Michael T. Osterholm and writer Mark Olshaker, in their informative article Chronicle of a Pandemic Foretold: Learning From the COVID-19 Failure—Before the Next Outbreak Arrives, published in the periodical “Foreign Affairs”, write:
“ The current crisis will eventually
end, either when a vaccine is available or when enough of the global
population has developed immunity (if lasting immunity is even
possible), which would likely require some two-thirds of the total
population to become infected. Neither of those ends will come quickly,
and the human and economic costs in the meantime will be enormous. “
And they continue: “This pandemic is
probably not “the Big One,” the prospect of which haunts the nightmares
of epidemiologists and public health officials everywhere. The next
pandemic will most likely be a novel influenza virus with the same
devastating impact as the pandemic of 1918, which circled the globe two
and a half times over the course of more than a year, in recurring
waves, killing many more people than the brutal and bloody war that
preceded it.
Examining why the [the world is] in this
current crisis is thus not simply a matter of accountability or
assigning blame. Just as this pandemic was in many ways foretold, the
next one will be, as well. If the world doesn’t learn the right lessons
from its failure to prepare and act on them with the speed, resources,
and political and societal commitment they deserve, the toll next time
could be considerably steeper. Terrible as it is, Covid-19 should serve
as a warning of how much worse a pandemic could be—and spur the
necessary action to contain an outbreak before it is again too late.”
The question we must ask is if we have
learned anything from this pandemic to better minister to our fellow
brothers and sisters in the future? Are we now able to better
distinguish what we are as the Body of Christ when our “normal” way of
existence has been disrupted? Did we take this opportunity to close the
gap between Faith and the Community of Science to work together in the
future? As Covid-19 continues to assault the people of the world, what
are we doing to enrich our ministries in caring for those that are
suffering and those that grieve from its consequences; for the medical
and health care professionals and clergy; for the lonely and isolated;
for those have encountered family turmoil? Other than providing food and
material goods, how are we ministering to the spiritual needs of those
that are now economically deprived? What have we done to deal with the
religious paranoia that seems to have lorded over us during this period
of fear? All these questions bring us to the final and most critical
question: will we be ready to face “the Big One” that, with scientific surety, will definitely come?
These challenges are immense. In
attempting to deal with them, it is natural that most people will
continue to first consider their own interests, both now and in the
future. But we need to realize that a world that is disunited and self-centered, with no common purpose, is a world that will invite many problems. The
reality is that if we are not ready to face the pastoral challenges
that lay before us, we as a Church will be not be able contribute to the
unity of Mankind that is so much needed. Thus, the question is not only
if we are ready to do so. The question is: are we are willing to do so? Are we ready and willing to answer to Christ’s call: “pastor my flock”?
There are no definite answers to these
questions, just as there are no clear solutions to the complex problems
stated above. The contradicting aspects of human nature form various
kinds of inner tensions that in turn, form various perspectives in how
human tragedy should and can be dealt with. In order to enhance
resilience amid this pandemic and begin to look toward the future, we
must begin to discuss our internal contingencies and the complexities of
the problems at hand within a network of cooperation and sharing. It is
only in this manner that we will be able to face the unknown and
dangerous unpredictabilities that are before us.
The Steering Committee of the “Patriarchal Network”
