Spiritual significance of some Covid-19 preventive protocols

NEWS COMMENTARY ON SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SOME COVID-19 PREVENTIVE PROTOCOLS.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic currently plaguing the world has made the times we live in historic. Historic events and times, depending on their impact and duration, leave legacies that may range from widespread pain and loss to diverse cultural adjustments, as well as spiritual revivals. For cultural adjustments, our various languages have seen an increase in the number of words and concepts in regular use, with terms like quarantine, social or physical distancing, self-isolation and coronavirus itself, all lending themselves to pronunciation nightmares for some.

But what is of significance here is how some preventive protocols, items and PPEs, such as masks being used in the containment of the virus, offer opportunities for spiritual renewal and revival. The prevailing lockdowns of some cities and nations, turning into virtual ghost towns, metropolises that hitherto prided themselves with the accolade of cities that never slept, as well as the shutdown of almost every activity that brings hundreds and thousands of patrons into lively or noisy congregation, have taught us the importance of quietening down and slowing down.

Significantly, it is not for nothing that Jesus was born on a silent and holy night, when all was calm and bright, as the popular Christmas carol goes. Indeed, in the First Book of Kings, God only spoke to Prophet Elijah, not in a strong wind that broke rocks into pieces, nor in an earthquake or a raging fire, but in a still, small voice. Perhaps, more because almost all places of worship in most jurisdictions are closed, there has been an overflow of intimate and creative spiritual expressions of all kinds, with emphasis on intimate expression. This might be indicative of the fact that God may finally have received our attention.

The use of facemasks, a Covid-19 preventive measure that is becoming increasingly mandatory all over the world, also points to ways in which our spirituality is being called to a higher order of effectiveness. It is said that we were created with two ears and a mouth, in order to listen twice as much as we speak. The importance of listening or hearing more than we speak is conveyed in the biblical verse that says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”  But in our contemporary world, at least in the pre-Covid-19 world of ever-increasing media outlets, blaring loudspeakers on most commercial street corners, and tacit approval of malicious gossip and slandering preoccupations, the foregoing biblical injunction seems to have been negated, with chaotic consequences for social peace and harmony.

In our newfound quiet times occasioned by the wearing of facemasks, we can work our lips in secret, not to cast aspersions or spells, but to enter repeatedly, into our new mobile closets, to offer without ceasing, supplications and prayers for God to intervene in this unrelenting global pestilence. Enhanced personal hygiene would most likely be another legacy of this pandemic. Regular hand washing with soap under running water, a crucial health habit made efficacious by the meaningfully-named Veronica bucket in situations where pipe-borne water is absent, is emblematic of washing our sins and stains away, in the manner Pontius Pilate tried to do during Jesus’s trial.

Also, with the increased patronage of high-alcohol-content solutions and gels, we are not only cleaning our hands from germs and other disease-causing pathogens; we are symbolically sanitizing our souls and bodies from all that is morally-and materially-corrupt. In so doing, we will be brought into closer fellowship and enlightenment with the God of our redemption, because, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” As our political leaders, government and private sector collaborators, religious and traditional authorities and all other citizens harness every ounce of effort and pesewa of resource behind the selfless health workers and others on the frontline, making Covid-19 history in the shortest possible time, should leave a new normal and legacies that are not only essential personal hygiene practices, but also significant spiritual insights into the application of coronavirus preventive protocols and personal protection equipment utilisation.

BY: RAYMOND TUVI, AUTHOR AND MEDIA CONSULTANT.