"Let the weak die and nature will sort itself out."
"If you're healthy, you have nothing to worry about."
I remember reading the occasional comment on the internet saying things along those lines. This was not the worst pandemic the world has seen or likely will see. The problem isn't that these kinds of statements are only right sometimes. The problem is that these statements are a very two dimensional statement about a problem that exists in a very multi-faceted reality. It's a thought that's built on a house of cards by somebody who probably feels very good about getting to say that from the safety of their own situation.
I'm going to let you in on a bigger truth behind it all.
The frail, the ill, the elderly, the vulnerable - the ones most susceptible to the dangers that are out there...they are not the weak.
The weak are the people who are unable to see past themselves. The weak are the ones who will not make the effort to understand vulnerability in another person. The ones who would not find the strength to reach out to others and help them if the need was there. The ones who are too weak to better the world around them because of their own shortsightedness, pride, or willful ignorance. Weakness is selfishness. Weakness thrives in the mouth that judges or condemns innocent lives based on shallow whims and cheap ideas.
Those are truly the weak in this world.
I'm reminded of the final scene in Pulp Fiction when talking about all of this.
We will all die one day. And by most standards, dying is not a sign of strength or resilience. So when looking at two corpses, and knowing one thought another was weak and deserved to die...well it kind of takes the wind out of those sails, doesn't it?
Strength isn't in outliving each other. It's reflected in the deeds we do. The strong lift up those around them. The strong will help a stranger (or a friend) because they know it's the right (and sometimes harder) thing to do. Strength is rooted in love and love will unify a people.
The Greek have so many words for the different kinds of love that we experience. I think many people - at least in this country - are starved of love and many have forgotten to love each other. And I think it has made many of us weak. I think it's part of what divides us, when you start digging.
Try to take the time to do something nice, even if it might be a challenge. It might be the start of a new bridge towards common ground with somebody. And it will be a good exercise in being strong. I think patriotism is rooted in love for your neighbor. Let's try to be patriots and spread a little love - it will make everybody (and ourselves) stronger!
And where there is love, there is life.