The Invisible Virus That's ​​​​​​​Changing Our Lives!

By Rev. Pamela Meyer Crissey, ADL Admin 

The Invisible Virus That's ​​​​​​​Changing Our Lives!

For many years we have witnessed and experienced the increase of busy-ness in our lives. Many express the feeling of how fast time is going. Parents are toting kids to endless sports practices and classes while holding down jobs. We hardly have time to breathe. Too many Americans hold down several part-time jobs just to make ends meet, and then they come home exhausted. Then 2020 arrives with all of its bright potential for a new decade, but instead of new hope, it brings with it an invisible, insidious virus that slams the planet's economic engine into Park.

All of a sudden, we are stuck in our homes. Sadly, millions of Americans with no savings have lost their jobs and their only source of income. Entertainers' livelihoods are cut off because live audiences are forbidden. The lucky ones can work online or attend essential jobs that require the presence of humans. Kids aren't in school, and parents have to take time to educate and entertain them. For all of us, our customary entertainment choices have been taken away, replaced by shuttered gathering places. Ironically, many of us have often complained about too much social media and too many choices on TV. But now, all of a sudden, that has shifted as well. Now we are more than grateful for the Internet, for all of the choices on TV, and for the social media that is now the glue that holds us together.

This whole COVID-19 phenomenon is absolutely "awesome" in the truest sense of the word. Never before in the history of humanity were we so completely connected with each other that we were able to watch in real time as a highly contagious virus spread across our planet. Nor were we ever able in the past to observe how other people around the world were responding to the challenge, to learn from them and to adjust our reactions before it hits us. New also is the opportunity to be inspired by others who are also coping with confinement by singing to each other from their balconies, clapping for medical workers, dancing in the street, or sending messages through talking dogs ― like Pluto! We human beings, living on this beautiful planet, are all dealing with the same thing, and, for the first time, we have a common foe, and it's not human.

As ADL ministers and metaphysicians, we also feel that everything happens for a reason, that there is a learning of some kind to discover from our trials. By looking at the bigger picture of what is going on here, we can often gain insights.

So, ponder these thoughts:

When we exhibit the symptoms of illness, do we ignore them? Some do at their peril. Our bodies speak to us long before they get sick. When we eat too much sugar, at first the body will make us feel bad while it produces more insulin to counter the sugar intake. Eventually, if we don't heed these warnings, the pancreas is no longer able to produce sufficient insulin, thus leading to Type-2 Diabetes. But we were warned.

The Earth speaks to us as well. I certainly don't know for sure, but unlike humans, the Earth seems not to ignore symptoms. While we continue to argue about whether temperatures are warming, the frequency of category-5 hurricanes has been growing. For 83 years such great storms occurred about once every three years, but since 2016, they have been occurring at a rate of about one per year. A hurricane's purpose is to vent off the heat that builds up near the equator, so the hotter the temperature, the larger the storm that Mother Earth will create to remove the heat.

So here we are. A new virus appears to which humanity has no immunity and for which there are neither vaccines or drugs, which gives us only one option ― to separate from each other.

What are the consequences from all this? Some are already evident: a major decrease in air travel around the planet, and thousands of cars off the roads, which is reducing the carbon dioxide in the air. Air pollution has diminished in China, and the canals of Venice are cleaner. An ADL student of ours who teaches kids in China noticed how they seemed healthier with less coughing since they've had to be inside and away from the intense air pollution there. Now that China is relaxing its lockdown, will they just go back to business as usual? Or will they want to preserve their cleaner skies and healthy lungs?

The Earth, like our bodies, is great at rejuvenating itself. What do our bodies do when we push too hard, don't take care of ourselves, or are overly stressed? They often take us down ― we get sick, and we have to rest to become rejuvenated again. Maybe that is what Mother Earth is doing ― taking us down, so she can rejuvenate.

We know it takes 30 days to change a habit, and we will be in this experience for longer than that. What habits will shift collectively for us? What habits do we want to shift as individuals? What will you do when this is over? What might the Earth be trying to tell us? Can we even listen? 

At the very least, this pandemic is making us slow down and alter our normal ways of living. We have no choice but to re-evaluate everything. Take advantage of it! What aspects of your life do you wish to change? 

In the meantime, we can still go out on walks and be in nature. We can sit on our stoops, balconies, decks or porches and just be. We can use the beautiful Internet to connect and find out how everyone else is coping. We can enjoy all the humor and creativity that is being displayed by resilient humans everywhere.

Whatever the ultimate purpose is for this experience ­- it's a big event! What are your insights about this phenomenon? Please go to our website, AllianceOfDivineLove.org, and share your thoughts, because you are all intuitive!

Let's continue to send prayers to our front-line medical staff persons, first responders, and police who are all working in unbelievable conditions. And don't forget our beloved grocery workers who are keeping us fed, other essential business workers and our dear truck drivers who are transporting all of our essential supplies ― especially our toilet paper! Send prayers to those who are sick, and to the loved ones who have lost family members.

But most importantly, stay at home, and stay out of the hospitals to lessen their load.

Wishing you all an amazing transformative experience. We will all get through this together.

~ Rev. Pamela Meyer Crissey