CORONAVIRUS TALK I
Pray the Our Father together
First, we need to thank the Spina Family: Jim, Camille, Carly, Sal and Olivia for making this series possible for us. Jim’s invitation to us is truly a grace which has, I believe, truly been prompted by the Holy Spirit.
Today is Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and being greeted by the crowds waving palm branches and shouting out: Hosanna! We might think that Hosanna is a word meaning “Hooray” and that Jesus is coming into Jerusalem as a conquering hero, greeting his adoring fans. But Hosanna really means: “Save us!” And in that sense, on this day, we call out Hosanna to the Lord Jesus and beg him to be our Savior.
The purpose of these meetings is to provide spiritual support for one another by reflecting together on what the treasure of the Scriptures and our Catholic traditions can bring to these times. We need to draw strength from one another, by comforting and encouraging each other during these difficult and unprecedented times.
Just the fact that you would do this is a great consolation for me, and I hope that these simple reflections will help each of you and your families realize, on a deep level, God’s love for you, which is not only the most important thing, but is the only thing that really matters.
So tonight, I just want to concentrate on two themes: one is how can we cope with times like these. And the second is to reflect with you on the two habits, the two virtues, the two lessons we can learn from these difficult times and continue to practice in the future: humility and solidarity.
Regarding the first: last week, one of my high school classmates sent me an email that referenced something he had read that I think is important for all of us to hear and I want to read it to you.
A businessman named Jim Collins wrote a book called “Good to Great” which traces the steps of 11 companies that out-performed their competitors over a period of 15 years. Collins and his team did research to determine why these companies were so successful and found that each one of them had subscribed to what is called the Stockdale Paradox.
Admiral Stockdale was the highest-ranking US military officer in the Hanoi Hilton prisoner-of-war camp during the height of the Vietnam War. From 1965 to 1973, Stockdale, who was tortured over 20 times, lived out that war without any prisoners’ rights, no set release date, and no certainty whether he would even survive to see his family again.
So, Collins wanted to interview Stockdale and when he did, he asked how the Admiral dealt with those 8 years – the uncertainty of his fate, the brutality of his captors. Stockdale told him: “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.
Collins asked him: “Who didn’t make it?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Stockdale said, “the optimists.”
“The optimists?” I don’t understand,” Collins said, now completely confused given what Stockdale had said just moments earlier.
“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”
And then, after a long pause, Admiral Stockdale said, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – a faith you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.”
Collins wrote: “To this day, I still carry a mental image of Stockdale admonishing the optimists: “We’re not getting out by Christmas: deal with it.”
Collins summarized their interview by writing: “A key psychology for leading from good to great is the Stockdale Paradox: Retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties AND at the same time, confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
So how does the Stockdale Paradox, a business principle, relate personally to you and me in these days of social distancing, failing businesses and canceled plans? How should we then live in the age of Covid-19? It seems to me that the paradox offers this insight: Instead of saying, “It’s going to be over by such and such a date,” and frittering away the days, or months, because, after all, this situation can’t last long, we should rather, with absolute faith that we will prevail in the end, face the harsh reality that no one knows when the end will be, and, therefore, we should resolve with God’s help, to turn the experience into a defining event, which, in retrospect, we would not trade.
It seems to me that this little passage offers us great wisdom.
So, I said that these times call out of each one of us two things in order to learn the lessons going forward from these days: humility and solidarity.
TS Eliot said of humility: “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; true humility is thinking of your self less.” If we allow it, there are innumerable opportunities to put others ahead of ourselves during these days. And, hopefully, we will practice thinking of ourselves less when this passes.
These times present us, whether we like it or not, with an unavoidable confrontation inside ourselves over the deepest need that characterizes our culture: the need to control. For most of us, our ability to control others or circumstances is directly proportional to our self-esteem. I am good, I am powerful, I exist only in proportion to what I am able to control.
Situations like these we experience now prove that trying to control anything is a fool’s errand, and that what we really need to pursue is the talent of surrender, the necessity to learn “which questions are unanswerable and not try to answer them.” This is the most necessary skill in times of stress and darkness.
We hear every day and many times each day from the media and from our leaders: “We are all in this together.” There is no doubt about this. No one on earth goes untouched by this virus. Without our necessarily choosing it, we are being forced to abandon our prejudices and divisions, our partisan politics and the myth that we can stand alone and apart. We are learning solidarity whether we like it or not.
As Malcolm X said: “When “I” is replaced with “WE,” even our illness becomes wellness.” And as Dr. Martin Luther King said: “We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools.” This virus begs us to draw together as the human family, and we ignore this call to our peril.
During this coming week, let’s keep high up in our minds:
- Those who have already died and those who are infected;
- Those without the resources to get medical help;
- Those who are separated from their families and loved ones;
- Our medical workers and our scientists who are working so hard to treat and to understand the virus;
- -Those pastors who are using media to reach their people to console them;
- For all parents, especially parents of young children, as they struggle to compensate for their childrens’ teachers;
- Those essential workers who are ensuring our ability to have food, get mail, be safe;
- Those companies and industries that altered their missions in order to produce masks and ventilators.
During the rest of this week, Holy Week, I want to reflect with you on the whole span of the Easter event and what its relevance to us can be particularly during these days. We’ll look at the scripture readings and the ceremonies and symbols of these great feasts so we can try to derive some meaning and inspiration from them.
So, summing up: Hosanna is not Hooray: Hosanna is Save us! We need to maintain absolute faith that we will prevail in the end and, at the same time, face the harsh reality that no one knows when the end will be; and, therefore, by practicing humility and solidarity, we resolve, with God’s help, to turn this experience into a defining event which, in retrospect, we would not trade.
Let’s end by saying a Hail Mary.