Conversation Five (in the Desert Odyssey virtual relational platform series) ~ The Moral Meaning of the Plague

Human beings have a need to make sense of the world around them. But is there always a purpose for events that happen that may at times appear random? At Desert Odyssey, we delve into the essential difference between meaning and purpose. Whilst the two are often used interchangeably, at times like these, we understand why there is a fundamental difference and whilst they are not meant to be separated on the one hand, they need to be understood separately in order to be more deeply connected.

Even if there isn’t a ‘purpose’ to this pandemic, there is the opportunity for us to discover ‘meaning’ ~ how we can go through this time with fortitude; how we can emerge with resilience; how we can be better situated to serve a world that has been shaped by this pandemic.

“There’s a new introspection coming into the world, as well. Everybody I talk to these days seems eager to have deeper conversations and ask more fundamental questions:
Are you ready to die? If your lungs filled with fluid a week from Tuesday would you be content with the life you’ve lived?
What would you do if a loved one died? Do you know where your most trusted spiritual and relational resources lie?
What role do you play in this crisis? What is the specific way you are situated to serve?”
David Brooks

Conversation Four (in the Desert Odyssey virtual relational platform series) ~ Maturity & COVID-19

“Instead of resisting to changes, surrender. Let life be with you, not against you. If you think ‘My life will be upside down’ don’t worry. How do you know down is not better than upside?” ~ Shams of Tabriz

“As people’s movement becomes restricted, we have the chance to review our life choices, our habits of travel, entertainment and consumerism. This also pertains to the ways in which we spend our time, the people we relate to, the hours we spend on social media, the jobs we do to make a living. Some of the questions we might ask ourselves: What really serves me? What serves the whole? How do I want to spend the precious years I have left in this body? What is really essential? What attitudes or beliefs am I willing to let go off?” ~ Marian Brehmer

• How do I want to spend the precious years I have left in this body?
• What is really essential? What attitudes or beliefs am I willing to let go off?

Conversation Three (in the Desert Odyssey virtual relational platform series) ~ Collateral Beauty

In a world that values and even worships strident individualism, how do we bridge the divide and the space between that individualism and our human connectedness? It has become clear hasn’t it, that even the virus connects us, yet we deny the connections that we artificially divide by ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, political affiliation, nationality, blue and white collar work, religion.

Augustine of Hippo is quoted as saying that evil is nothing – no-thing. It is ‘no thing’ in that is does not have a life of its own but exists only in the absence of. That’s why we speak of injustice (absence of justice), inequality (absence of equality). Evil thrives because good doesn’t. SAR-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, exists and we see its effects only because it is able to attach itself to healthy living cells. Viruses are not living organisms. It needs a host, living cells, to proliferate. By Augustine’s definition (which I happen to agree with), a virus is nothing – not-a-thing. This in the sense that is does not have a life of its own but thrives and multiplies in the presence of what’s good.
In the 13th Century, the Persian Poet Jalaludin Rumi, composed a beautiful poem that looks at our life as a guest house, a dwelling we inhabit, but only for the span of our humanity. A number of us are taking the time to spring clean our houses during this lockdown. Perhaps we need to embark on a deeper spring cleaning of our inner houses. Then perhaps we might create space to invite others into our houses to celebrate our connectedness, and to address the things that divide us.

The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture,
Still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
For some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.

• If I am brutally honest, what might I find in my ‘house’ that needs to be cleaned out?
• Describe a moment of great pain and how that ‘clearing out’ made room for ‘some new delight’. What collateral beauty was I able to find/experience?

Conversation Two (in the Desert Odyssey virtual relational platform series) ~ Living in the Everlasting Present

“There is no future!!” someone opined with a sense of deep resignation as the pandemic perpetuates. What this person really meant was that it’s hard if not virtually impossible to plan for the future under the current conditions (even the phrase, ‘virtually’ takes on a new dimension). What then are we to do as we live in what someone described as ‘the everlasting present’?

We are a social species (even the most ardent introvert), and we also (all of us), have a need for some semblance of control. To live in an everlasting present is both unsettling and deeply frustrating. Perhaps this offers us opportunity to go inside when we can’t go outside or go forward. Perhaps we can mine the deeper parts of our hearts in discovering the essence of who we truly are, notwithstanding the social isolation and uncertain future. This, so that when we emerge from this pandemic, we will truly function from the inside out rather than the outside in as we have gotten so used to doing.

• How can I find myself in the desert of the pandemic, in the confinement of my own home?
• What have I/what might I discover about who I really am?