The Last Day Comes - A New Year Dawns
The last day of the year is here,
2020 has made an indelible imprint across the world,
As Covid 19 unfurled its fury upon humanity,
Forcing all to be driven into isolation,
To avoid possible life termination.
Physical misery has broken out,
Displaying ugliness and anger bouts,
As the toilet paper and life essentials are hoarded,
Supermarkets shelves completely plundered,
Wellbeing of others undermined.
Fear of impending calamity,
Of global devastation and misery attacking,
Mortality and futility with loss of hope,
Descending upon the screens in homes,
Portraying the reality of our mortality.
The ships come into port with passengers from abroad,
Stealthily and serendipitously dispersing,
A norovirus through droplets in the air,
Depositing a down payment of impending death,
Wherever and to whomever it may care.
Individual suffering shattering communities around,
Attitudes and actions of conflicting morality,
Between those infected and healthy people loudly voiced,
Suddenly barriers, quarantining and isolating,
Are mandated by authorities removing individual choice.
Global pandemic takes away face to face relationships,
No longer people empowered to come and go,
Travel is restricted to other states and countries,
Even going to work in people places is eliminated,
As the virus brings its judgement restricting our pleasures so!
Re-evaluation of the significant importance of roles,
Medical professionals, teachers, and essential service personnel,
Rocket upwards as heroes performing angelic laudatory tasks,
That many took for granted as a previous rite of passage,
Now seen as a privileged service to value and appreciate.
Loving caring people having radical values of grace,
In masks and gowns and fully covered,
Labour with intense bravery to fight
Against this pestilence of indiscriminating might,
Inflicting suffering with no respite in sight.
Around the world a drama continues to unfold,
Where self-centred, self-serving individuals,
Continue their lavish lifestyle boldly as of old,
And in so doing allow the virus to continue unabated,
Raging through communities where they participated.
The importance of interdependence,
And the survival of nations and even the world,
Like a huge almighty banner in the sky,
Has now been unfurled for all to see,
One person’s actions and behaviours affect me!
The message has been sent across the universe,
That when humankind focuses its mind,
On the pursuit of having its own way to follow no laws,
The gates of perversity are opened wide,
For all manner of destructive forces to thrive.
Surely in an age where knowledge has exploded,
The wisdom gained should lead away from imploding fates,
Allowing a virus to be passed on through lack of self-control,
Simply for satisfying individual passing pleasures of the day,
Is a lunacy and arrogance that all must give away.
Father God, creator, and sustainer of the earth,
Sent his only Son into the world through human birth,
He came to show another way for people of every nation,
To live together in peace and care for one another,
Kindness, consideration, and love to share for sister and brother.
In the last decade, the world observed untold destruction,
Bushfires burned and homes were raised to the ground,
Across the world conflict, wars and riots raged,
Domestic violence, murder and theft are daily in the news,
People by other people continue to be abused.
Humanity has the capacity for making behavioural choices,
Amid suffering, the world united to fight a common foe,
Governments to varying degrees stepped up to provide support,
As people were conscripted into lockdown in isolation,
The call for unity of purpose swelled to fight the devastation.
The best minds in the universe were funded to find a vaccine,
The ultimate success of the products produced are yet to be seen,
Mankind has a greater understanding of the importance of interdependence,
Churches have gone online in proclamation of God’s answer to world annihilation,
The saving work of Jesus is spreading to every corner of the earth.
The parable of the Covid nineteen virus is written on our minds,
How will the hearts of the peoples of the world interpret its passage in time?
Will there be a return to building relationships of love and forgiveness?
Will there be a return to honouring God, knowing life is a gift of grace?
Ultimately all lives reach a conclusion as death comes for all to face.
Neil P. Schiller
01.01 2021
