The stakes

The calendar now surprises us in full autumn. And the air that blows is still marked by the zig-zag of the virus that does not give up. With the fear of replicating the autumn of 2020 which wreaked havoc on the second wave. True, great strides have been made. We are missing the last decisive meters, to get out of this battle that will surely leave aftermath spread over time, for a long time to come. We are holding our breath to see how the school that is back in the presence can hold up, as it is logical that it is, as it must be proposed, in order not to waste precious years at the expense of generations that will already remain quite displaced now on several fronts, didactic, cultural, human, social, educational… In any case, a sort of lost or curtailed normality is somehow re-emerging. We know the risks aren't over. The pandemic is lurking.

It is necessary to be attentive to the maximum. We are equipped with the vaccine. Those who have so far escaped are expected at this reassuring junction. There are discussions and controversies. But there is only one certainty that comes from science: with the vaccine we can do it, without remaining in a swamp that is dangerous for us and for others.
Now, however, we have to deal with a range of limitations that are essential to protect oneself in the best possible way.

Much can be done again, but many things must also be held in check or modified or rethought. Every day, from the mask to the spacings, from sanitation to the green pass… we experience how life in its feriality has rather changed.
Slowly we regain possession of rhythms, situations, occasions, opportunities… that Covid rightly forced to compress or cancel. All re-experimented with caution, within the rules. Otherwise it falls back into the abyss, here and there. And this approach already requires a lot of rethinking.
It is also a crucial step, to be interpreted and practiced. Maybe starting from the conviction or admission that we are dealing with more than bearable hitches, compared to the worst that could fall upon us otherwise.

Woe to making a mistake out of levity or presumption, woe to forging ahead… It would be a gamble for everyone. And if on the one hand we have to live with these attitudes that are required of us and that redesign our daily life a little, on the other - in addition to the habit to succeed - there is also a further implicit message to be collected. We are going through a crisis that should not be wasted, Pope Francis continues to reiterate, reflecting on Covid and its surroundings, first of all questioning consciences. In fact, the complicated season we are going through also contains a stringent and pungent life lesson, to be more supportive, to take care, to not consider ourselves omnipotent, to share the frailties, to reset the days in terms of humanity that suffers and struggles, to distinguish what is essential and what is banal, to re-establish existential choices. The bet of this new normal is in our hands, in which to invest. The stakes are not small.

Corrado Avagnina
NP October 2021