George Pattery, S.J.

Theologian, Langdon Gilkey talks about human quest for the ultimate in and through life-experience (Naming the whirlwind: the renewal of God (1969). He contends that the peak-limit experiences in our lives bring us to the signals of transcendence. By ‘peak experience’ he means experiences of deep peace, ecstatic love, mercy, justice and contentment. Such experiences bring us to the brink of the Ultimate, the Transcendent or the Immanent, beyond us. We also have experiences of ‘limit situations’
like moments of death, sickness, departures or accidents. Often such experiences also take us to encounter the Ultimate, as signal of Transcendence. Certainly Covid-19 is such an experience of the limit situation for peoples, nations and the entire humanity, at the fear of getting extinguished from the face of the earth. Undoubtedly the Covid experience is bringing many people to the point of Ultimate Concern. In such moments, civilization remains a precarious and ambiguous a venture that requires faith in the grace of providence, of the Ultimate in order to face the challenges or define meaning for existence or give value for living, says Gilkey. This brings us to the question of faith and religion. For Gilkey, the real concern is not about the survival of religion, but with what sort of religion, a creative or a demonic one? Which concept of God and understanding of faith will enable us to find meaning at the time of the pandemic like Covid -19? This is not an easy proposition, especially in the multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual situation of India.

The Moments of Corona-Truths in India

Recall the harrowing scenes of the migrant workers commuting for days on the highways of India, braving the heat and cold, in order somehow to reach home after the reckless four-hours’ notice of lock-down of a nation of 1.3 billion people: who is responsible for their plight?

This nation takes pride (is it a matter of pride?) in having one of the biggest armies in the world, owning the biggest Railway networks, one of the huge para-military forces in the subcontinent; yet no one was available to reach the migrants home. Who is responsible for this situation? The bloated egos of leaders and callousness of human mind-set or God?

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, of W.H.O, rather belatedly but persistently briefed the world on the impending peril for humanity and put out Covid-Protocol’; the richest nation on the face of the earth and its then leader ignored W.H.O; forcing financial crunch upon W.H.O at the time of a pandemic: who is responsible? The arrogant might of a leader who became law unto himself or God?

Within months of Corona-spread, India proclaimed itself the pharmacy of the world, exported millions of doses of Covid-vaccine to other countries and prided itself ‘Corona-mukt India’ and then embarrassingly witnessed the second wave of the pandemic more devastating than the first one. Who is responsible – an incompetent and reckless Govt at the Centre of atmanirbhar Bharat or God?

The high volte election rallies and the zealous religious gatherings brought millions of devotees together, flouting all the Covid-protocols, by people and by the ruling political dispensation. Who is responsible for the second wave: the people, the Govt or God?

Did God forsake the humanity or did we abandon our humanity through self-denials and image building, through callousness and arrogance at the cost of human lives?

One of the good responses to the pandemic in India happened through the Kerala Govt model, coordinated by Shailaja teacher, the then Health Minister, spear-heading a healing mission with compassion and care: God was present there through the agency of a vowed Marxist Govt with atheistic leanings!

The heroic Corona-response came from health-workers, majority of whom are young women and men, risking their lives to save lives and livelihood of millions of people. God was in them.

When the bodies of Corona victims floated through the river Ganges, and crematoriums filled out of capacity, two young girls volunteered to carry bodies to the burial grounds. God walked with the humankind in them.

Through the numerous scientists and researchers, working hard to find the right vaccine, God was labouring with us.

God was made present through the compassion, care and courage of heroes and heroines through the Corona days! God was eked out by the human arrogance, recklessness and insensitivity towards Corona victims. God is present in so far as we are present to one another; when all are healthy, we are healthy; only then we have health and healthy gods.

“The heroic Corona-response came from health-workers, majority of whom are young women and men, risking their lives to save lives and livelihood of millions of people. God was in them.”

The gods eclipsed by the pandemic.
The god of rigid ritualism that stipulated costly, time-bound and controlled rituals as absolute non-negotiable for believers: Corona prohibited religious gathering!
The god of purity and pollution that prohibited menstruating women to enter the sanctum sanctorum, that prescribed purity of time, place and peoples: Corona made no distinction of gender, caste or class or place (although its impact varied).
The god of hyper-religious nationalism died ‘the death of thousand qualifications’ through the ever-growing virus-mutants that are visible across nations.
The god of majoritarianism of Hindutva that protected cows and allowed minorities to be lynched: Corona prescribed lockdown everywhere and vaccination for all.
The god of racist and colonial supremacy across the nations had to face Corona that did not recognize racial boundaries and colour distinctions.
The god of militant exclusivism and self-righteousness that consider other religions as false cannot but accept that Corona made no distinction between believers and atheists.
The god of apodictic certainty of all-knowing religious leadership and all soluble scientism got obscured in front of the bafflingly multi-mutating corona virus.
The god of instant, miraculous charismatic healing disappeared from their enclaves as Corona refused to be contained.
These gods had to be eclipsed (if not eliminated); unfortunately, we needed a pandemic to initiate such a process (almost blasphemous and inhuman to say that!)

Why this predicament today?

Because we did not recognize prophetic voices, gentle whispers and silent warnings from poets and visionaries, sages and mystics, artists and scientists, women and children, eco-sophists and mother Earth.
Because we have created too many gods of different sizes and colours (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Syrian, Latin, …); invented too many sacred figures and places, occupying too much of common secular space, spending huge public money meant for the poor, and their health care;
Because we have too many absolutes of rituals, and doctrines that render gods to obey the dictates of our desires;
Because every nation, people, culture and religion invent, and accumulate gods that fit their size and needs, and justify their egos and privileges;
Because we have discovered new gods of consumerism dictated by the market forces, that keep on feeding the insatiable desires of the humans, while leaving the majority out, to fend for themselves.
Because the humans required to rid of the extra-baggage, cut down its consumption and walk in solidarity with all.
Because we have to learn to choose the essentials and leave the non-essentials and respect the integrity of creation (Pope Francis);
God in Covid-19?

Rabindranath Tagore’s play, ‘The King of the Dark Chamber’ could perhaps throw light on our times, if paraphrased as ‘God of the Dark Chamber’.
Is God absent in the pandemic crisis? For seekers: any path will lead them to God; for agnostics: God is hideous to look at, ugly, naked and invisible; for devotees: God is seen everywhere; for rationalists, God is not, as the poor are not fed, and prisoners are not freed; for the lovers: God is mirrored in their love, in the hide-seek of darkness and light.

Meister Eckhart, a German mystic, says it well: “I Pray God to rid me of God”; the pandemic invites us to deconstruct our gods, to let God be God and rediscover the ever-newness of God. God, for Karl Rahner, is ‘the incomprehensible, ineffable and inscrutable Mystery – the bottomless bottom’; the within and the without of all and everything, walking ahead of all (Ilia Delio). Pope Francis said in his interview with Anthony Spadaro: “If one has the answers to all the questions — that is the proof that God is not with him. … there is always left room for doubt … we must let God search and encounter us.” During the pandemic, with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we could say that we live, act and collaborate as if God is not the given. We need to be at our best selves with one another to fight Covid-19. God continues to be ‘the sound of the cry of abandonment of the Crucified, and the light of the Easter morning, calling us forth by our names to care for the victims of Covid-19!’. Let us not delay.

We pray:
To recognize that we are not masters of life, but its servants;
To learn that we can be healthy, only when all are health;
To respect the new liturgy of masking, hand-washing and distancing;
To encourage and strengthen the front-line workers of the pandemic;
To support scientists searching for the reason and remedy for Covid-19;
To accompany the elderly, the young and children in their isolation & loneliness;
To realize that we are inter-connected and inter-dependent with all/everything;
To denounce human arrogance and callousness towards Corona victims;
To rejoice that we all belong to one Common Home – the universe/the earth;
To live as Brothers and Sisters in this common home. (Laudato si & Fratelli tutti’).
To honour the integrity of creation.
To celebrate the within-without of all – Wholeness – walking ahead of us.