Dear one,
From the Genesis narrative we read: “And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made” (Genesis 2:25-3:1). From our Western (Greek) perspective, the juncture between these two verses is odd, if not altogether disconcerting. However, from an Eastern (Hebrew) perspective, this juncture, if not seamless, is nonetheless realistic: the created world Yahweh is good and at its creation shame did not exist; and yet, there exists a serpent, who is subtle, crafty, and deceiving.
For the Eastern mind (which prevails throughout the Scriptures), the disjuncture between these two verses: a good world wherein evil dwells, might be difficult to reconcile; but if difficult, the Eastern mind—rather than the Western tendency of focusing upon the questions why? and from-whence?—tending toward concrete practicalities, asks: Given a world where good and evil comingle, what will you do/ how will you live? Answering why? does not alter the reality.
At the outbreak of coronavirus, we in the West quickly asked: Why? followed by the question: Who’s to blame? With this latter question we then entered the world of the serpent (Genesis 3:11-13): Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent … well, the serpent blamed the badger, the badger the bear, the bear the bat, that bat the boar, and the boar blamed … and so we play the “blame-game,” evident in both family life and international politics.
Thankfully, given our Western tendencies, many among us clearly understood the question: What shall we do? and acted appropriately, whereby many have sacrificed and risked for the sake of many, many more.
I do not mean to deprecate our Western tendencies, not at all; but I would have us recognize that, even if we can answer the why? and the from-whence? questions, we still face: What will you do? To this latter question, irrespective the times and the conditions within which we live, the Eastern mind (and the Scriptures) consistently direct us: you shall love your Creator with all you have and are; you shall love your neighbor as yourself; you shall pray for those who persecute you; and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are to characterize your life.
With regard to the virus, some day soon we might be able to answer why? and from-whence?; but however we answer these questions, what we are to do remains constant: to live as Jesus did/does.
Mindfully,
Stan