The Covid-19 pandemic has caused me to think about a lot of things – many of them all at once. The impermanence of life. The shortsightedness of leaders. The hubris of the fortunate. The political ambitions of religion. The hopes I have for the next generation. My latest story, “In a Twinkling…,” a fantasy about the end of the United States, touches on all of these and more.
Lately I find my mind circling around to consider what matters most. Again, and again, I find it’s not “American Greatness” or “Free Market Capitalism” or “Individual Liberties” or any of the slogans we commonly hear. Idealism is good. You might detect a good measure of it as you read my stories. Even zealotry has its place – as long as we are, in the words of an esteemed Pastor, “certain, but not too certain,” of our beliefs. A little doubt helps to steer us away from the perils of unquestioning faith, and more importantly from the desire to win at any cost. People who are too certain become violent, bomb Synagogues or Mosques, or commit genocide, just to prove they are right – or that they are on the right side of their God.
Yet, it’s not idealism or zealotry that we need. We need each other. It seems to me many of the slogans we hear are attempts to divide us, to encourage us to “take sides” rather than hear one another, forgive one another, and accept one another. It also seems to me if God exists, he or she does not expect us to do battle with each other but rather to do battle with the evil inside of ourselves. The most difficult thing is to defeat our worst impulses. It has been said, “we are our own worst enemy.” Too often we try to win out over others when it would have been better to ask, “what if I’m wrong about this?” God makes a lot of different kinds of people and offers grace to all of them. We may not be able to offer God’s grace, but we can offer others the benefit of a great deal of doubt.
I have no answers to the kinds of questions I’m raising here. That’s why I write these stories. I’m hoping to get a little closer to understanding the answers, should they appear, or should they confront me with still more questions. I don’t know how the world will end, but I’m pretty sure I know what will keep it going. And I’m almost certain the world will end if the only species with the capacity to know how not to end it fails to live up to its name – homo sapiens. In that case, may God forgive us.
MurrayWorks 