I remember when I was little, they used to put me in the corner for misdemeanors. That’s probably how they put everyone. I remember that feeling when you put your forehead against the wall and thought: when will it end? You stand there, scratching the wallpaper, just waiting for your parents to get tired of watching your ass and say, “All right, come out already. And with a light heart and a happy smile, you are relieved to get out of the place of your punishment and go on to do whatever comes into your head.
And it happened that one day the three of us – me, my brother and my sister – were put in the same corner. We fought and almost killed each other, I don’t remember why. It was a different experience. The picture on the wallpaper no longer seemed so attractive, and the dull faces standing next to it suggested that perhaps we really had done something wrong and really should think about something. For example, that we stop being so mean to each other.
So my point is this: we’ve all been put in a corner. All mankind. And the third wave of coronavirus, which is just around the corner, judging by how many of my friends and acquaintances are getting sick again in all parts of the world, is proof of that. We can’t just defend our punishment. This time they won’t let us out as easily as they did a year ago.
Yesterday a wonderful man, who is lying in bed for the second week with pneumonia, told me a valuable thing. “I’m afraid there’s something I don’t understand. Something I can’t hear, something I can’t perceive and correct, so it won’t happen again. I’m afraid that my personal little negligence will make either my family or the whole world sick in principle…. So what am I supposed to hear?”…
We all need to hear. Nothing is repeated twice for nothing. And those tiny right thoughts that have appeared in our heads since the pandemic began are surely our medicine.
We must learn to live together. Begin to build relationships with each other so that in caring for everyone, we can appease the forces of nature that press on us from all sides.
We have to start thinking about each other, about everyone’s well-being. Teach each other anew about compassion, mutual help and support. Without this step, we will stand in our corner for as long as suffering compels us to do so. Let’s hear it! Let’s not be deaf.
