The Eleventh Hour

There were signs – enough of them; there were talks – lots of them; there was time — enough of it. As almost usual, some were too superficial to see; too loud to listen; too busy doing nothing, even time stopped to wonder why they took no notice. Then the season of the rains came; at that time, they realized they had roofless houses. They quickly gathered materials needed to make roofs and had their houses roofed. One thing was common during the rains: They had their roofs hastily done and feared the consequences if they were done poorly. After the rains, there were tales of minor and major roof leakage. After the rains, those that did not experience major roof leakage took down their roofs and had them done properly. The lesson was clear: The rains will fall again!

Life can be likened to an exam and as almost usual with exams, the basics are always needed. An individual, a family, a community, a nation is on the path of doing well if the basics are dealt with. The opposite is true if the basics are not properly dealt with or worse, neglected.

Sadly, there’s a pandemic! The type that requires a restriction of movement but that of those in the elementary. And yes, those in the elementary, especially health care workers are considered heroes. Even nations that have paid laughable attention to their education (that produced these heroes) and healthcare systems, over the years, have reiterated just how cheap talk is.

I live in a part of the world where it’s not uncommon, these days, to hear people sarcastically say: ‘I hope some of our leaders still think of going overseas to manage a headache’. Sounds very insensitive, especially at a time like this, right? So a heart-broken lover is aware his/her runaway partner is not hanging around because he/she is repentant but for the reason that there seem to be trouble in ‘paradise’. They both have what it takes to make the relationship work, but one of the two cares less about making the relationship work and will rather be at some other place, or with some other person, seen as ‘better’. Will it be strange if the heart-broken lover desires his/her runaway partner goes back to ‘paradise’ irrespective of what’s going on there? Not really. That said, the better people in relationships should keep being the better people.

Someday, the rains of this pandemic will be over. We’ll be up and about with our lives; then the worst may happen. No, not a resurgence or another pandemic, but a neglect of the basics – again. Instead of the quiet, soul searching (even God searching), living each day like it was our last attitudes, some may just revert to attention seeking, self serving ways. Instead of the passion for immune boosting, healthy eating habits, some may just go back to cigarettes and alcohol. Instead of spending spare time with family, some may just opt for being at every other needless place but with them. Instead of leaders of communities and nations keeping up with (or attempting to keep up with) deliberate, more aggressive ways to ensure their populace don’t lack life’s necessities, some may just relapse to being concerned about their comfort alone.

There will be signs – enough of them; there will be talks – lots of them; there will be time – enough of it. May we see, listen, take notice, and make the needed changes!