The human spirit will not be kept down in these days of lockdown

With the coronavirus affecting people worldwide, the news is pretty bleak each day. Everyone is facing hard and difficult times. Here in California as it is everywhere else, streets are almost desolate, as residents remain in quarantine.

We miss the sound of busy streets. Malls and shops remain closed. We miss the folks and the faces we see every day. Only the hospitals remain open, staffed with doctors and nurses, on their repeated shifts. We see hospital staff spend hours taking care of patients, fighting this dreaded COVID-19, despite the fears of getting the disease themselves. They have a job to do, ministering to human beings who have been struck down by this dreaded illness. Many retired professionals have volunteered to work in harm’s way helping in this crisis.

New York city is the hardest hit by the pandemic. We watch the news daily and see the many casualties of COVID-19. Families and friends have endured losing loved ones. The coronavirus has caused much uncertainty, and fear. Yet at this time we see human spirit at its best. We witness the love and empathy of friends and families and even strangers, and the impact it has on us. We see people across New York share a moment of camaraderie during these challenging times. Neighbours open their windows to collectively celebrate the hard work and selfless dedication of first responders at the front lines. They use pots, pans, bells, whistles, trombones and violins, to show their gratitude, some of them singing, heartfelt songs, even arias with pure emotion to hospital staff and volunteers. They wave “hello” to each other from one side of the street to the other. A single wave, a friendly gesture from a distance seems to ever so slightly restore that sense of normalcy.

A sixth grader in North Carolina, asked a math question from her teacher on the phone. The teacher went that extra mile to explain in person while practising social distancing from outside this student’s front door. Some teachers read books on facetime to their little students, and have a nightly chat with them.

These are the stories we see each day that uplift the human spirit. Teachers, friends and neighbours come up with a whole lot of innovative ideas at times like this. Each of us now will be who we choose to be. We can be someone who calls on neighbours and friends, to makes sure they are okay and are not in need. We will gravitate towards the best of who we are capable of being, or we can stumble into the dark corners of who we should never be.

We cannot go around shaking hands as we usually do, nevertheless we can go around being kind and thoughtful. We believe in the goodness of human beings, and the elixir of compassion that is extended by people we hear and see in the news. In a town in Iowa, a distillery is making hand sanitizers and giving it away free to those who need it. Acts of such generosity abound in many places.

We are in uncharted waters, yet there are many acts of love and kindness that take place on a daily basis. Kindness to the elderly, the sick and the lonely, to fill their empty days, to assuage their loneliness and fears. The goodness of mankind will always conquer evil even in the most dire of circumstances.

Charmaine Candappa

Via email