We can also pin our hope this Christmas on the timely arrival of the vaccines. Again, it was the audacity of hope and belief of the scientific community which produced various vaccines in record time.
by Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal
“To the audacity of hope”, I said. Clinking our bottles, we started to laugh as hard as before. ~ Barack Obama, A Promised Land.
The above quote is from the enthralling autobiography of President Barack Obama, and I quoted it for context. On page 149, the author recounts how, after a rally in Indianapolis, extremely near the decisive moment when he and his mates were waiting for a clear indication of whether he would get the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party, his main campaign adviser David Axelrod walks in wearing a forlorn look, and announces that Obama was down twelve points in Indiana and that his chances of nomination over Hilary Clinton were low. Axelrod was a shrewd tactician and normally anyone would have believed the prognostication. Obama fails to acknowledge the grim forecast and instead raises his glass of beer in a toast. The above is what he said. The rest of course, is history.
Reading this, I was reminded of Obama’s previous page turner – The Audacity of Hope - where, at page 25 he says: “We will need to understand just how we got to this place, this land of warring factions and tribal hatreds. And we will need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break”. The first quote reminds us that an indomitable spirit of hope will always get us through. The second quote conveys the incontrovertible fact that, although we may be a divided world, we are a united humanity in the face of a global evil that has so far killed 1.74 million humans and infected 72.3 million who remain insecure in the face of the complexity of the disease.
At every Christmas, we wish each other a merry Christmas and a happy new year. We are joyous and celebrate with friends and relatives. During this Christmas, we cannot do that, as we are in lockdown, and we have got used to wishing each other a safe and healthy Christmas, in the hope that we can celebrate together next year. Obama won the highest office in the world because he had the audacity of hope which he used as a driver to propel his indomitable and relentless energy and talent towards his goal. There is no reason we, as a collective humanity, cannot do the same to beat the pandemic through global cooperation.
It is recorded that Jesus talked of famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places (Matt. 24:6-8). This is part of human existence and an unfortunate reality. In the case of the current pandemic, there is one word that will help the world and that is “restraint”. Science advises us that we must restrain ourselves from succumbing to the temptation of celebratory gatherings at Christmas. We must also restrain ourselves from flouting directives whether they be given by our employers in training sessions or by public authorities. However, this is not enough. There is one more word that is inextricably linked to our audacious hope of the return to global health: “responsibility”.
Christians believe that Jesus was born to redeem us from sin and the imperfections of social debauchery. This is the message of Christmas. In biblical times, when a plague was visited upon humanity, it was taken as an outward sign of God’s wrath against evil acts of people: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint” (Isiah 1:1-31)
One can argue convincingly that we have abused the eco system and biodiversity of the world and are paying the price. This is the act of the Anthropocene. We are solely to blame. We have to hope collectively that the world will realize that we have to look out for ourselves: “ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27).
Finally, we have cling to our audacity that the birth of the Prince of Peace will bring the World together in the New Year and from the ashes of a divided world will rise a united humanity with mutual respect and the abhorrence of self service among nations. Countries should respect each other in a common fight against the pandemic with mutual respect and cooperation. This applies particularly in the case of a threat of outbreak in a nation: Emer de Vattel, in his 1758 treatise Droit de gens - The Law of Nations- enunciated this fundamental principle: “A nation then is a mistress of her own actions as long as they do not affect the proper and perfect right of any other nation - – so long as she is only internally bound, and does not lie under any external or perfect obligation. If she makes an ill use of her liberty, she is guilty of a breach of duty, but other nations are bound to acquiesce in her conduct, since they have no right to dictate to her”.
We can also pin our hope this Christmas on the timely arrival of the vaccines. Again, it was the audacity of hope and belief of the scientific community which produced various vaccines in record time.
Someone once wondered why in every manger displayed at Christmas there was a light on while the rest of Bethlehem was in pitch darkness. Christmas reminds me of when the three wise men followed a shining star that took them to the new-born. Christmas is the story of light, as is Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, and of giving. The symbolism of Christmas, particularly in its original setting, brings to bear the real significance of the event as a harbinger of peace and happiness and the heralding of understanding and compassion particularly of those in power toward their fellow beings. Christmas is a time for introspection: of self examination for self worth. It is a time that all of us should demonstrably show our capacity to shed differences and work toward the common human goal of peace and well being.
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