One gorgeous and enriching experience I have had these seamless days of community quarantine has been to sit before my laptop and listen to the greatest modern tenor Andrea Bocelli sing on YouTube. Anything, whether in English or Latin or Spanish, is more than perfect; it’s beyond the quotidian realm.
But there is one exceptionally beautiful,inspiring song that is quite relevant, even as you think back of French Albert Camus’ novel “The Plague” ,a required reading in my college days. The song, simple yet poignant, spiritual, therefore, religious, sacred and sincere, cannot but resonate to the current clime brought upon the world by COVID 19.
The bottom line is simple: as we wish for the virus to disappear as quickly as it descended upon us like a deadly missile from a drone, we can flesh out the hope through its profound lyrics that make that wish already happen in our mind. “The Prayer” can do that for us, and with Bocelli’s heavenly pipes,we feel we’re already past the paralyng ordeal.
On on hand, Camus, in his novel, takes on an existential view of the plague in his time. This ,too, will not last forever like the ones before or after, including incompetent and despotic rulers. On the other hand, “The Prayer” helps us navigate the dire strait not with our own strength but with the powerlift of the Creator. I don’t believe anything can be more important, for most of us, than that whether we can afford paniic-buying or simply cannot do more than panic. The dichotomy,- the rich are different from the poor only because they have more money— simply dissolves where despair begins. Vulnerability is the ultimate, shared reality.
In the meantime, a word , or the absence of it, from our principal sponsor, the President of the Philippines.
Last Tuesday evening, the nation waited with bated breath on what was to expected be an earth-shaking announcement from him. It was the shortest SONA I’ ve ever heard. We can overcome this, he said essentially, and we will come out stronger for it. Sounded like Kant: what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. The mountain heaved and out came a mouse.
There were no details in the script, just a vague, nebulous plan. Naturally, of course, b ecause there was no devil in it, either. Neither was God in the presidential scheme. So those who patiently waited for the announcement like beggars in a pile, went away empty handed.
There was no need, apparently. Don’ worry, Xi Ping , a non-viral infection that has eaten like zombie the brains of many of our leaders starting from the top, is an omnipotent help in times of need. In other words, we now deal with two viruses, one affects our short-term well-being, the other threatens our long-term. Take your pick, or poison.
The British journalist-theologian G. K Chesterton wrote that the danger of disbelieving in God lies not in that one may believe nothing at all but may believe anything. We may have crossed the line by bowing to a convenient idol.
So much for the commercial.
The lyrics of “The Prayer” strike both at the heart and mind. The message is umistakeable: tnere is certainty, not banality in prayer; there is power in honesty; there is victory in humility. The song isn’t just therapeutic, it’s like a spiritual massage. In the end, the Numinous brings light, hope, kindness and a safe way.
In the book Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, Jill is thirsty but Aslan, the Lion, stands between her and the stream. She told Aslan that she will find another way to the stream, to which Aslan replied: there is no other way.
This a time when strategy is mistaken for solution, force conflated with firmness, isolation for sanity and safety and process precedes facts. And yet, according to a health expert, the virus is so much efficient in spreading itself than governments– or what’s left of their heads,anyway– are efficient in stopping it on its deadly track. (Thank heavens for contact tracing).
What’s funny is that COVID 19 doesn’t even have a brain and no larger than a teeny weeny fraction of your hair.
We’re on scary path, and we need all the guide we can get. Especially, from Above. And the idea isn’t just being a Pollyana.
