In the Year of What Else Could Go Wrong
cleared gutters gush November rain
and run off becomes more of an idea
than a result. The tiny maple leaves
once fall fire drop and clog the splash
block and water eases its way down
the foundation wall as all good North-
west basements turn winter pools.
No one says, what next? The predators
have taken power, the weak are left
weeping in their chai tea, those who
danced on the graves of Limbaugh
and Scalia realize they have spiked
a jar of nitroglycerin in an end zone
misnamed, the time left on the clock
says end times, and you remember
Catherine Moran’s caution Never ask —
What’s the Worst that Could Happen?
Kevin Miller
Thanks to my former classmate, poet Kevin Miller, for transforming the present moment into art.
It appears that a plague has taken hold within the minds of many and is rampaging across the land.
A malady so deadly it incapacitates the soul from living by the Golden Rule.
It infects a person with a selfishness so complete as to obliterate any sense of
- right and wrong
- good and evil
- truth and fiction
Moreover, it’s a plague freely chosen, so one wonders now that it’s been allowed in, how will it ever end?
Thankfully, history provides some clues.
Back in time there was a plague that nearly devoured all Europe. The Bubonic Plague swept across the land unabated for centuries.
Then one day it encountered the little village of Eyam in the county of Derbyshire, England that said, “Not so fast.”
It would be the place the great plague of the Middle Ages would end.
In September 1665 a tailor in Eyam named George Viccars received a parcel of cloth from London.
The cloth was infested with fleas carrying the Bubonic Plague. When word got out panic spread throughout Eyam and the surrounding villages.
But no such panic was found in Reverend William Mompesson, the village rector.
He believed the plague could be stopped in its tracks through —
QUARANTINE
He organized the first village-wide sequestration. Nobody was permitted to leave or to enter.
There could be no exceptions.
The rector believed if the plague could be stopped, the surrounding countryside could be spared and it would eventually burn itself out.
The village agreed.
Such a quarantine had never been tried before. Eyam was the first.
To ensure it got the supplies it needed, the village arranged for things to be left near a large stone at its boundary. The Plague Stone would symbolize their connection to the outside world.
Reverend Mompesson continued to guide the village through these dark days. He lost his wife, his children and most of his flock.
75% of the village perished.
But the plan worked:
- the plague did not spread
- the quarantine held
- the plague ended
All on account of Eyam’s extraordinary act of self-sacrifice.
So what about us?
How long will it be before something goes right?
Who will come along and reinstate the Golden Rule?
When will shallow self-interest be replaced by magnanimous good will?
How will toxic polarization be set aside?
The planet is being segregated into warring factions. Who will come forth to mitigate the power of social media? Where will the break first happen? When will we come again to prioritize:
- the we over the me
- reality over fantasy
- compassion over aggression
- realism over conspiracy
- love over hate
- truth over fiction
When will the next Eyam emerge to lead the way in silencing the deadly chatter that is being fed into the minds of those trapped in a demonic echo chamber?
History tells us — there will come a day.
In the meantime, perhaps we pray the prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Just a thought…
Pat