World weariness

By Bill Fox/Columnist

The living conditions with COVID sometimes seems long and weary. We think we have it hard until we see the news coming in from places like India. Obviously a lot of us are tired of the restrictions brought on by well-intentioned governments.  We yearn for the time when we can get together again and hug our parents, grandchildren and friends. With that in mind, we see the extremely long line-ups of people waiting to get their vaccines and anticipating a return to a more normal life. I still fear that many, after getting their first of two shots, may loosen their guard, and as experts fear, we might still, yet, go into a fourth wave. I truly hope that this is not the case as we have already changed our flights to B. C. five times; each time thinking conditions would soon improve. I’m still holding onto our most recent flight reservations with the hope that we fly out to B.C. in August to see our oldest son and his family (our four grandchildren). Will that happen?
Other than everyone getting their vaccines and hoping that we might soon have “herd immunity,” there might be a useful prescription for world-weariness and that is turning to spiritual things. I try to conquer selfishness in myself, and dare to think of the greater good. I hope to have spiritual peace and serenity in the face of all the weariness of the world.
What I find to be most helpful to start each new challenging day is that every morning both my wife and I have a routine. Each of us spends from 15 to 30 minutes reading daily reflections or meditations. For me this also includes the prayers from memorial cards of family members that have passed on. I believe that though they are gone physically, they still are with us spiritually. Daily I read the following reflection from my mother-in-law’s memorial card:

“As long as hearts remember, as long as hearts still care,

We never part with those we love for they are with us everywhere.

So many of our precious memories of those we hold so dear

Bring peace and comfort to us now and keep our loved one near.”

When my younger brother died five years ago, another brother and I had the same reflection put on the back of his memorial picture.

So daily I pray for friends and particularly family members asking that on this new day they have good health, happiness, holiness (which is spirituality) and hope. That spirituality might include just a love and appreciation for nature and all of life.

Another part of our daily routine is that we try to go for a long walk. Just walking down nature trails like the Joe Kolodzie Oshawa Creek bike path, or visiting different conservation areas tends to lift up our spirits watching birds and small animals and taking deep fresh breaths in the woods. A month ago the salmon were coming up the Oshawa Creek and we went down near Children’s Arena and Kinsmen Park to view this spectacle. We also noticed that hundreds of ducks seemed to make that area their home for many weeks. These walks divert our attention from our travel restrictions and give us a greater appreciation of nature.

So, recently some experts have been suggesting that there may be other pandemics in our future. Why? I sometimes think that our planet could be like a “living” entity. Maybe the Earth and mother nature, as we enter into more climate change, is trying to get back at us for our centuries of misuse and carelessness. Perhaps greed has motivated us to pilfer too much of our natural resources. Now, as mentioned in a recent column, even the oceans are starting to suffer. While we know about plastics being in our seas, I don’t think we realized that most plastic is actually from fishing nets breaking off from factory fishing trawlers without any thought of the long-term consequences.

So, I hope to see many of you on our nature walks, and if not, I may be seen virtually at bdfox@rogers.com.