The Catholic Artist Today
a meme, a talk, some thoughts...
FYI, the title of the post has nothing to do with the post…I got distracted!
You’ve probably seen some version of this meme recently. If you’ve ever been on a Zoom call then you know it’s sadly accurate about virtual communication. I’m sure there’s one out there with Jesus asking if everyone can hear him. I hope there’s one out there with Jesus asking one of the apostles to mute himself. For the love of God, please mute yourself, your heavy breathing, your shuffling papers, your cute dog and adorable children, your spouse bitching in the background. Please mute your complaints about another meeting, about the poor quality of the artists, about the chicken thawing the fridge. Please, please, just mute yourself!
Ok. So, moving on. This meme made think about some of the things we’ve endured this past year. Obviously, in the initial stages of the pandemic, we needed to hit the pause button, figure things out, stop the spread of the virus. To me, that made sense, everyone stay home if you can and let’s figure this out.
I’m not so sure that over a year later continued lockdowns are a realistic and healthy solution to this problem. There are a lot of people who seem heavily invested in ongoing lockdowns, even now. I don’t get that. There’s more to health than simply NOT getting COVID. And, of course, we are all going to die of something. It seems to me that telling everyone to stay home for some indeterminate amount of time is the least creative option. And it solves nothing - COVID is not going anywhere, neither is death, neither is the need to earn a living, etc, etc, etc. The people I know who are heavily invested in continued lockdown share some characteristics - they are upper-middle class or straight up rich; they don’t like their families and are generally misanthropic; they can work from home and earn the same amount of money; they have really nice homes; they’ve travelled in a plane to another state or country during the pandemic and/or have a second home in a really nice place and have been there, sometimes for extended periods of time during the pandemic; they have Amazon Prime on one-click ordering; they have no children or their children are grown. I think there are a few more characteristics they share, but you get the gist. This is not most of us. Most of us need a little human interaction for one reason or another.
Also never leaving your house does not seem to protect you from COVID. There are people I know who’ve barely left their homes, haven’t seen family or friends in person in months, and they’ve gotten COVID. I know people who’ve worked outside the home, socialized, gotten on planes and gone to other countries and cities, and they haven’t gotten COVID - or at least haven’t gotten sick from it. And, I know people along the spectrum between those two extremes. Some of those people have gotten COVID, some haven’t. Some died of other, completely non-COVID things. Some should have gotten COVID and didn’t. This all make me think there’s more to this COVID thing than just avoiding human contact.
But, I really don’t want to go on about lockdowns. Suffice it to say, that for what it’s worth, I think lockdowns are a lazy solution forced on us by government leaders who do not themselves follow those orders. Which is entirely consistent with how our leadership class behaves. Here’s what the Pennsylvania Department of Health has to say about COVID. (note from Mary: Sharing this information is not an endorsement of these recommendations.) I think the website is interesting…the “above the fold” photo with a bunch of well-groomed, young people wearing masks, the recommendations to get the vaccine, (….which would be easier if most of the doses weren’t in the least populated counties of PA), and I can’t even with some of the rest of it.
Obviously, you should wash your hands. This is not a new recommendation, despite 1) the way it is presented as some amazing healthcare breakthrough and 2) the number of people for whom it is, apparently, am amazing, new healthcare breakthrough.
BTW, if you do go out to a restaurant, watch out for that ketchup bottle. Heck, don't touch your cell phone or your shoes without washing your hands afterwards!
What I think is: human flourishing requires interaction with each other. Reality, in real life, living it, matters. There’s a reason why one of the harshest prison punishments is solitary confinement. We whither without each other. But, I suppose, part of the problem is that we don’t agree on what constitutes human flourishing.
Which brings me to that meme…Zoom eucharist would never work. That supper with Christ and the Apostles could not have been what it was unless they were with each other in person. They had to eat the bread, drink the wine. They had to be present. There are some who think that churches should stay closed or should limit the number of congregates allowed to worship at any one time. Some of those same people think Walmart being open and FULL is A-OK.
Concerts and recitals, poetry readings and art shows, are still for the most part closed or limited. But Target is full to overflowing. All the big box stores are open and have been for most of the pandemic with very little control over capacity. My friend’s small shop, Local, in Media, she had to stay closed for months. The small grocery store in Narberth had to limit the number of customers, which is never that many at once anyway. Schools have to go through hoops to stay open, which is why it’s mostly Catholic and private schools that are open for in person school. They are smaller and willing to go through the mandated hoops because of their personal connections, because of the community of faith and trust that is formed.
Obviously, there are people buying lettuce and hamburgers at Walmart and toilet paper and paper towels at Target. These things are necessary. But there’s a lot of crap at these places too, junk, that no one really needs, but if this pandemic has shown me anything, it is that corporate America wants us to buy stuff, lots of it.
Like most Americans, I am guilty of buying too much (though I am trying very hard to stop. I am getting rid of Amazon Prime when my membership expires), especially on Amazon. They make it so easy. But, if you want to reconsider your Amazon usage or the role of the big box stores, here are some interesting resources:
Strong Towns, particularly this podcast episode
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance
None of this is to say that I think we should be reckless or that COVID is a hoax or that only sheep wear masks…I am saying there’s more to life than not getting COVID…such as:
!