Before the corona virus epidemic, I had been working as a freelance music critic, writing for our national Swedish newspaper. This means, I have had the pleasure of going to lot of concerts, and each time, I listen attentively and I bring what I know about music to my writing. Although I've studied and been engaged in music all my life, I openly admit that many of my opinions are often a question of taste -- just because well-known Finnish vocal quartet Fork's most recent show didn't move me, doesn't mean that others won't enjoy them. I find it fascinating to read reviews of concerts I have myself attended, and it intrigues me how educated musicians listen and respond so differently to music.
Tonight, the Finnish government held a press conference and announced plans to slowly lift the many restrictions that have put the country in isolation for the past six weeks. My greatest fear since the epidemic began in China has surprisingly not been that I would myself fall sick, although I also belong to one of the many risk groups. My greatest fear is how we are judging and pointing fingers at each other for our actions and values, and at the moment, most of this is done online. Our spoken and unspoken need to protect ourselves and our families (granted, a very valid reason!) is clouding our view when it comes to dialoguing and listening to others. This is about to escalate once the country begins to open up, moving from online to in-person encounters, unless we as a society consciously do something about it. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else, so this post speaks to my heart and I hope it speaks to yours too.
The first big pitfall the world at large is falling into is that of blaming nations for the onslaught of the virus. These conspiracy theories don't really accomplish anything. I understand our innate need to find answers, but when a good friend's teenage daughter was quite recently harassed on the street in Finland for being Chinese, I boiled up in rage.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine wanted to suggest a walk, and began the conversation by asking, ¨how many people have you seen lately?¨ I gave my answer, and received a rather condescending, ¨oh... that's still quite a lot of people.¨ I resisted the temptation of pointing out that I hadn't taken public transportation in weeks, neither had I been to the downtown area, knowing full well that my friend did both on an almost daily basis. If every dinner invitation, concert event, work meeting or walk in the park is going to be preceded by a mini-interrogation, I'm afraid we're going to end up at home and very lonely.
When I attend a concert, I try to put aside my personal biases, feelings and even mood (fortunately, I am usually in a good mood when I get to hear live music!) so that I can focus on the performance I am about to review. Unfortunately, this skill has been somewhat lost in our corona-panic and is instead manifesting in our voracious need to hoard things such as toilet paper, yeast and pasta. As it turns out, hoarding might be a safer side when it comes to coping methods, at least in Finland.
We've forgotten a few basic principles. Although the virus can affect anyone and is not a respecter of persons, we are still not all in the same boat. While some people, like me, are forced to work from home and make drastic changes to how they do their job, others might have the exact same workday, but instead they risk their lives daily when they leave the house and go to work. Parents are struggling to balance homeschooling which makes them less able to focus on their jobs -- and in many cases, happy that school is starting up again. Those who already struggled with loneliness and depression before the epidemic are at a real risk of withdrawing even further. We also should not forget the elderly and those in risk groups who have not seen their family or friends in weeks. The very fact that there is an indefinite timeline to when they might be able to safely begin to appear in public, is in itself a rather disheartening and all-consuming thought to ponder alone in isolation.
In addition, some people adapt well to change, while others are struggling with what to cook for lunch every day (I admit I had this problem during our first week at home!). Then there are those who have strong social networks to fall back on -- and others who are not yet able to admit or articulate their fears even if they knew who to call.
We're not in the same boat and even worse, we've forgotten how to listen and how to show empathy. A friend courageously shared her feelings about the anonymity of mask-wearing on Facebook, and I was aghast to read the heartless response of others. We listen to react with our strong opinions, because we naturally believe that we are right and that we are entitled to our opinions. We've forgotten that Jesus went to the cross -- not because He felt like it, but because it was the will of His father, and He did it because He loves us. Our best response is to listen for the sake of listening and to love because Jesus loved us first.
Unlike my concert reviews, where I'm supposedly a so-called expert on music, the corona virus is a very new thing and hardly any of us can call ourselves experts -- any scientific findings are really in the initial stages and not enough grounds by which to start daily debates. We are not in the same boat, but we are in this together, so let's ask God to show us how to keep our hearts soft and our ears open even in our day-to-day lives so that our new-found freedom is also an opportunity to bless others.
