Where To Start
A friend often asks me when I am going to blog again. I tell her I don't write unless I experience something out of the ordinary, significant or hilarious. Apparently, all of 2019 was uneventful. On the other hand, 2020 has been outright nuclear.
I have been wanting to blog about our new virus, My Corona, but have not wanted to make light when so many are sacrificing, suffering and dying. In addition, our society has become so divided, uncivil, disrespectful, and openly aggressive, that I am almost guaranteed to offend someone.
I have not taken sides on whether to shut down or stay open because I understand the arguments of both. I have tried to support local businesses yet not endanger others with my presence. We are all walking a tightrope in which there are snapping crocodiles on one side and quicksand on the other. If we fall on one side we will be eaten alive, the other and we will suffocate. What to do?
Pinball Wizard
After pondering my navel for the last 3 months under quarantine, I've come to the conclusion that we have become a pinball machine society that overreacts to everything, exacerbated by instantaneous, globally available information and video footage "proof."
For those of you who cannot picture a pinball machine, it's different from modern video games in that it was more mechanically operated. You launched your ball from a coiled plunger and kept the game going by flipping the ball back into action with right and left flippers. Once you had it going well, the ball could bounce off so many different bells and ringers you couldn't tell which one it hit first, or even second or third. It's an uncontrolled chain reaction, with each "hit" creating more noise and often gaining momentum.
Of course, pinball machines were not invented with artificial intelligence. They just react to the ball hitting the mechanism that causes a bounce or a bell or both, and then increases the score. We, as human beings, were created with real intelligence. We don't have to react to an object butting up against our senses. We don't have to aggressively thrust our opinion out there, causing more bounces and bells to go off.
As an example of overreacting, I have been disturbed by the calls to rewrite or even try to erase history, tear down statues, change names. I understand the anger at certain people who hurt certain groups (as well as understand that this statement itself is oversimplified). As a person of Jewish blood, I can write pages of unimaginable horrors committed against the Jews since the beginning of time. Yet, Auschwitz-Birkenau still stands. Buchenwald still stands. Why? As a reminder to never repeat the same sins. But, you may argue, these were never celebrated as good. Read on.
The fact is, everyone of us, including me and you, will do bad things, and everyone of us will do good things. That makes us human. The good does not erase the bad, and the bad does not erase the good. They just are. Interestingly, the heroes of the Bible were deeply flawed human beings. David, a man after God's own heart and the most celebrated king of Israel, committed adultery and murder. Abraham, the Patriarch of the Jews, sent his wife to live with the Egyptians, not once, but twice to save his own skin. Moses, the great shepherd of the Exodus and Ten Commandment messenger, murdered a man and was prohibited from entering the Promised Land because he disobeyed God and lost his temper. Aaron, Moses' bro and the first High Priest, helped the people construct and worship a golden calf. You get the picture.
The common thread is that they were forgiven for their sins. The sins did not define them. They also suffered natural consequences as a result of them. But God did not "cancel" them. Nor did their fellow community members. Their flaws were left in the Bible to encourage us to be merciful to others when they fall, and to pick ourselves up in our own tumbles. In the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus illustrated that EVERYONE is our neighbor, no matter how much we may disagree with them, and we are to love them as much as we love ourselves.
These are just ponderings of a quarantined woman whose navel has grown closer to her face after too many episodes of The Great British Baking Show and accompanied recipe imitations. They are not meant to insult, chastise, or otherwise offend. I would love to hear your opinion as long as you gently slide it over like a light pastry stuffed with creme patissiere and enrobed in chocolate ganache, rather than launch it like a silver pinball.
For your further entertainment, I have included the video of Elton John performing Pinball Wizard. This song is from the rock opera, Tommy, a disturbingly themed but brilliantly soundtracked movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joxyFDmh_LY
