photo by Laura Lai
by
Laura Lai/Essay
This week is, for some of us, the
Holly Week. For some of us, Easter will be celebrated this Sunday. And I am one
of those. It is usually a week of prayer, and on Saturday at midnight we light
our candle in church and pass the light to each other. This light is brought
every year on Saturday from Jerusalem so that at midnight we can take it from church
and bring it to our houses.
This pandemic that we definitely
need to survive is theoretically called ‘virus’, but in practice is an
invisible killer. Measures have been taken: on the one side, the laic state
wants us all in houses and banned all gatherings (including the Church ones). On
the other side, the Institution of the Orthodox Church understood the
importance of these measures, respects these measures and there will be no
gatherings in church. However, it is hard for the Church – and this is easy to
understand – to see itself prevented by a damn pandemic to bring the light from
Jerusalem and pass this light to the believers, as it traditionally does. Therefore,
the laic state will allow people to get out in front of their houses and wait
for the Church volunteers to bring the light from church. At first sight, it
looks like the laic state and the Church have worked out this issue for the
Easter night.
But I am not convinced that it is
so. This pandemic looks more ‘snak(e)y’ to be worked out so easily. To me, it
looks more like this damn pandemic has used the weaknesses of both the State
and the Church to continue this Easter tradition, so that it can reach its goal
of increasing the death toll.
In
concrete terms, what the State and Church have done looks as follows: if we are
allowed in front of our block of flats (because many of us do not leave in a
house or a villa) it means at least 20 people waiting for the Church
volunteers to bring the light, volunteers that have seen other groups of people
and to whom they passed the light. Furthermore, when we, the believers, take
this light we traditionally say ‘Jesus has arisen!’ and the other one replies ‘It’s
true! He has arisen’. If each of us stretches the arm, we may take the light
from 1,5 – 2 meters social distance, but are we all going to pay attention
without exception? Gatherings and small conversations are sufficient elements
for this damn pandemic to increase its death toll.
It is up to each believer’s
conscious to do what it thinks is right in the Easter night. I am also a believer
in God. Easter is my favorite holiday. I wait for Easter with an emotion hard
to describe. Spring is my favorite season. I love seeing the trees in spring
and to hear the birds joyfully singing in trees! For my mother, Easter is also
a special holidays, because it is on the 1st day of Easter that she
has given birth to me. Thanks God that I was born healthy. It is through Divine
Grace that God gave me LIFE. And like all of us, I also was not born with a
candle in my hand. But ALIVE and HEALTHY!
Therefore,
I believe I have a responsibility to protect the LIFE that God has given me. In
so far, I have not smoked or drunk and I have moderate eaten. For Easter during
this pandemic I will also do what my conscious tells me to do. I will leave
this damn pandemic to win this Easter battle, so that I can win the war: to
enjoy as many Easters as I am given by God, to go to church many more times
that I skipped during the pandemic, to light as many candles as I want
afterwards, and on Easter, not only to receive a light from a Church volunteer
that has it from Jerusalem, but to be able myself to go to Jerusalem and light
a candle!
I personally stood strong like a
rock in front of strong winds and heavy rains that wanted me shaped in a way or
another I dislike. This pandemic is just like one of those winds and rains. But
if we stay strong like a rock, this pandemic wind will blow less and less
strongly until it will cease. The rain will stop, too. There will be sunshine
and many
HAPPY & HEALTHY EASTERS AHEAD!!!
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