Lent

I listened to Richard Rohr, a Franciscan Friar, in a podcast called  Another Name for Everything,  speaking about finding presence in pandemic. He said that very little has been written about the great flu pandemic of 1918. The reason, he supposed, is because people were ashamed of their behavior. People abandoned family, acted in selfishness and fear. After it was over, they were too ashamed to speak of it. They only wanted to forget it. Fear does not bring out the best in us.  When I heard his words, I thought of a passage from Geraldine Brooks’ beautiful novel,  Year of Wonders . It is based on the true story of a village that self-quarantined when the plague hit them. They suffered greatly, losing about two thirds of their numbers from the sickness. The priest went from house to house tending to the dying. At one house he sat beside a deeply troubled man, clinging to his misery, terrified of surrendering his life. He told the priest that his wife, who had ...