BEYOND THE DARK HOUR

How many complex, evident and hidden implications that disturb and mark our lives, in this time suspended by ... coronavirus! There are stories of situations that impress, beyond the numbers of those affected, of deaths, of positives. We know it: they are not dry figures from statistical accounting, they are people, they are dramas, they are tears, they are mourners, they are sufferings that weigh on the heart. Then around, in the worrying climate of contagion, with the restrictive measures to be followed, an emblematic and yet surprising submerged rebound and emerge, which is that of solidarity, of the small great gestures of attention, of service, of availability, of generosity. A strong and capillary signal, which affects the quadrant of the coronavirus that is raging and that it is difficult to stem and defeat. And then again that formidable hold of hope and tenacity, which derives from the courageous and determined dedication of many, including doctors, nurses, social-health workers, volunteers, other people available on many fronts who never stop fighting for the good of others, to support those affected first of all, but also to support those who suffer from so many daily deficiencies of survival or aggravated loneliness. But there is also a mood that seems equally contagious. And that is what many rather disoriented, perhaps heartbroken, discouraged see.

After the first weeks of stop and cloister, there and then, it was not expected that it would last long, but now that things are prolonged - and it cannot be otherwise in this exceptional condition - souls become disconcerted, even tired. It is not just what we are missing or forbidden to weigh. First of all, there is the virus that makes us find fragile, vulnerable, displaced.

In short, a sense of despair seems to hover, entering beyond the walls where you are "locked up". How can we force ourselves? How can we not get down? How can we react within ourselves first? These are serious questions, not to be bypassed.

They can help dig into each one. They can leave us unattended, there and there. But they can also lead us in depth, beyond the dark hour, as Pope Francis called it. Listening to words that set the course. And in this time of anxiety there is no shortage of voices that help. Jorge Bergoglio never gets away from these crucial junctions. And it indicates the direction. He makes himself feel like father and brother at his side. Challenge the hearts of believers and the hearts of all, so as not to let go. It also calls for strong choices. Unfortunately more and more voices disappoint us more and more, such as those of a certain policy that cannot stand up to the gravity of the situation and turn into shop controversy, which are also worthwhile (if not anger).

It is an important opportunity to choose the right items today. And maybe you can also re-listen to voices that do not go down like that of Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jewish writer who died not yet thirty years old in the concentration camp: «Do you think I don't see barbed wire? (...) But I also see a slice of heaven. And I have this slice of heaven in my heart, I see freedom and beauty ".

Corrado Avagnina
NP maggio 2020