~ Nelson Mandela
A quarantine is enforced isolation to contain disease. It was first used in the 1600s when Venetian ships carrying the plague ("black death") were anchored off the mainland for 40 days. The word quarantine comes from the Italian quaranta giorni, but has earlier roots that hark back to the temptation of Christ, when he isolated and fasted in the desert for 40 days.
As a boundary imposed by external authority, a quarantine can feel like a prison and trigger defiance or resignation. It's stressful until I overcome the temptation to focus my energy on what is out of my control and focus it instead on what is, and that is: me.
It's tricky because there is a real tension between what is outside and what is inside, a real threat to my personal safety, health and freedom in the form of this nasty virus. But I can still choose, within my limitations and whether I get the virus or not, to think of this quarantine as an opportunity for personal enrichment and growing my soul in whatever petri dish I'm stuck in.
I don't know about you but for me these growth opportunities always feel dark and stagnant. Until my heart breaks open.
I aspire to be like that prsioner of whom it was said by a friend who worked for the Kairos Prison Ministry: He is the freest man I know.
No comments:
Post a Comment