My thoughts on 80 days of quarantine.
In my six decades of life, I have never witnessed such display of the extremes in such a short time. We went from the good, to the bad, to the ugly.
Let me recap on the good. In January, we traveled to Utah to spend Daniel’s 65th birthday. It had been over a decade that we had gotten together with any family members to celebrate his special day so I felt strongly that it was time and convinced Daniel to ask permission to leave the area and off we went. That week, the mountains were covered with snow but the city experienced no big storms while we were there, it was beautiful.
In February, my mom turned 80. Her daughters: Liz, Vane, Mari and I planned a week long getaway to Orlando. It felt good to see my mom reach her 80th year of life considering that her health has not been optimal for the past few years due to complications with diabetes. She had open heart surgery four years ago as well. This was a wonderful time together. I also managed to see Bianca and family in Connecticut on my way home to Buenos Aires.
Here came the bad. In March the world as we have known it changed. We learned new vocabulary words. Who will ever forget: COVID-19, social distancing, self-quarantine, shelter in place, flattening the curve, N95 masks, incubation, pandemic, community spread, telecommuting, or new normal. But my favorite is: “We are all in this together.” Elder Holland said it so eloquently: “Even as we speak, we are waging an “all hands -on deck” war with COVID-19, a solemn reminder that a virus 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand can bring entire populations and global economies to their knees. We pray for those who have lost loved ones in this modern plague, as well as for those who are currently infected or at risk. We certainly pray for those who are giving such magnificent health care.”
As if all the bad and sad happening all around us wasn’t enough, here came the ugly. One single act of a crazy man, solidified that humanity as we know it has been lost or how on earth could people just watch, record, and simply stand by and do nothing while a man was being murdered before their eyes? Which propelled more acts of hatred, violence, and destruction that has reached every corner around the world which brought more negativity filling the news. I am all for peaceful protest but when it turns to violence it defeats the purpose. Can't people see that?
I have not slept well for days. Yesterday, I felt my heart experiencing rapid palpitations as when you are anxious and watching the news makes it worse. I have no choice but turn the TV off and instead, prayed a lot about what to think of all of this and a clear thought came to my head, “Whenever ugliness gets glorified and discontent gets sensationalized is when we have lost the battle between love vs. hate, good vs. evil and Right vs. Wrong. "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one again another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away." 3 Nephi 11: 29-30.
No one likes to get caught, and when they do, it gets blame on someone or something else. “The devil made me do it.” It’s time to be accountable! Let’s look inside our hearts. What are we doing? Are we part of the problem? Elder Holland was visionary when he spoke to the world before any of this happened when he said:” When we have conquered this—and we will—may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger, freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we hope for schools where students are taught—not terrified they will be shot—and for the gift of personal dignity for every child of God, unmarred by any form of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice. Understanding all of this is our relentless hope for greater devotion to the two greatest of all commandments: to love God by keeping His counsel and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience and forgiveness. These two divine directives are still—and will be—the only real hope we have for giving our children a better world than the one they now know. Indeed, if we finally lose hope, we lose our last sustaining possession… truly when hope is gone, what we have left is the flame of the inferno raging on every side. So, when our backs are to the wall and as the hymn says, “other helpers fail and comforts flee,” among our most indispensable virtues will be this precious gift of hope liked inextricably to our faith in God and our charity to others… ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.”
No one likes to get caught, and when they do, it gets blame on someone or something else. “The devil made me do it.” It’s time to be accountable! Let’s look inside our hearts. What are we doing? Are we part of the problem? Elder Holland was visionary when he spoke to the world before any of this happened when he said:” When we have conquered this—and we will—may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger, freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we hope for schools where students are taught—not terrified they will be shot—and for the gift of personal dignity for every child of God, unmarred by any form of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice. Understanding all of this is our relentless hope for greater devotion to the two greatest of all commandments: to love God by keeping His counsel and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience and forgiveness. These two divine directives are still—and will be—the only real hope we have for giving our children a better world than the one they now know. Indeed, if we finally lose hope, we lose our last sustaining possession… truly when hope is gone, what we have left is the flame of the inferno raging on every side. So, when our backs are to the wall and as the hymn says, “other helpers fail and comforts flee,” among our most indispensable virtues will be this precious gift of hope liked inextricably to our faith in God and our charity to others… ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.”
And lastly, here are the thoughts of our dear Prophet: “We join with many throughout this nation and around the world who are deeply saddened at recent evidences of racism and a blatant disregard for human life. We abhor the reality that some would deny others respect and the most basic of freedoms because of the color of his or her skin.
We are also saddened when these assaults on human dignity lead to escalating violence and unrest. The Creator of us all calls on each of us to abandon attitudes of prejudice against any group of God’s children. Any of us who has prejudice toward another race needs to repent!
During the Savior’s earthly mission, He constantly ministered to those who were excluded, marginalized, judged, overlooked, abused, and discounted. As His followers, can we do anything less? The answer is no! We believe in freedom, kindness, and fairness for all of God’s children!
Let us be clear. We are brothers and sisters, each of us the child of a loving Father in Heaven. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, invites all to come unto Him—“black and white, bond and free, male and female,” (2 Nephi 26:33). It behooves each of us to do whatever we can in our spheres of influence to preserve the dignity and respect every son and daughter of God deserves.
Any nation can only be as great as its people. That requires citizens to cultivate a moral compass that helps them distinguish between right and wrong. Illegal acts such as looting, defacing, or destroying public or private property cannot be tolerated. Never has one wrong been corrected by a second wrong. Evil has never been resolved by more evil. We need to foster our faith in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.
We need to foster a fundamental respect for the human dignity of every human soul, regardless of their color, creed, or cause. And we need to work tirelessly to build bridges of understanding rather than creating walls of segregation. I plead with us to work together for peace, for mutual respect, and for an outpouring of love for all of God’s children.”
Today as I fasted, I was meditating on how I can repent for those times I have looked the other way, or times I have withheld love as I carried a grudge or anger, or been selfish, or all the ways we allow people to divide us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the common denominator that keeps us on the right track. Today I was reminded of my blessings. I have the habit or reading my patriarchal blessing each time I am fasting and ponder on what it says. I marvel at the places I get to go, and the new people I get to meet and learn from who are all part of this beautiful choir.
I promised myself when I married Daniel that I would look for beauty around me wherever I went. Each place is unique and beautiful if you look for it. I have started doing a daily routine of yoga and meditation to lift -up my soul each morning. I had the habit of giving myself insulting messages like “you are getting so many wrinkles and getting old and fat, you are not beautiful and it shows and you are becoming unattractive and even grotesque.” Now I look in the mirror and tell myself, you have a nice smile, I love and accept you the same way God does because I am of infinite worth and I see worth in each person I meet. If I catch myself thinking of someone else’s physical flaws, I pause and re-think it. I make a point of finding beauty all around me. That is what I have been learning from this experience.
With love,
Mom
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