Religion in the Time of the Pandemic
The signs are all around
The lessons before us:
Something so small
That we cannot see it
Has brought the mightiest nations
Of the world
With their mighty nuclear ships and missiles
To their mighty knees.
Buddha was right
Life is suffering
So be warned
And search for Nirvana
Confucius wanted us
To revere our parents and ancestors
And Lao Tzu
Taught us to befriend nature
Allow time to unfold with its own rhythm
Learn the art of drinking tea
And gently walk in bamboo forests
In silence
To find the Dao
Lord Ram showed us
The path of righteousness
Marked by calls for Shanti, peace
And the great Guru of the Punjab
Taught humility and service to all
Moses gave us the ten commandments
And Jesus wanted us to love one another
Muhammad embraced both East and West
He taught us
To balance matter and spirit
To strive for justice
To care for the poor
And above all to seek knowledge
He asked us to wash our hands five times a day
Cover our faces
And greet each other with our hands on our hearts
And he reminded us that
Abraham taught obedience
And the virtue of being alone
These religions are like spokes in a wheel
All connecting to the same central point
These luminous names
Are our shared human heritage
They give us hope
While reminding us
Of our common humanity
And vulnerability
God walks alongside us
As close to us as our jugular vein.
But how many of us have learnt
Any lessons from the coronavirus scourge?
Nations still threaten to crush weaker nations
And minorities have become
The virus
The enemy within.
Leaders still strut about like Pharaoh
Their arrogance unabated
Their greed and selfishness on display
The harm they have caused the planet
Is killing us as well as all God’s creation
Their list of crimes is long:
Massive pollution of the air, earth and seas
With the use of dangerous chemicals
Fertilizers, insecticides, hospital waste
And plastic that is not degradable
We have
Annihilated too many species of the natural world.
But we are equal opportunity killers
Though the mind numbed with grief and tears
Cannot even compute the crimes against
The millions of children and refugees
Killed and forever displaced.
The planet needs air to breathe,
Time to heal its wounds
Inflicted by us.
We quiver in panic and fear
Before the deadly virus
As we desperately hunt for a vaccine
Open your eyes and hearts
My friends
And you will see that
Everything in this universe is gloriously suffused
With the Divine attributes
Of Compassion and Mercy.
Akbar Ahmed
Washington DC
16 April, 2020
