A Physical Ailment Mutates to an Emotional Ailment
In 2020 this nation and the world came under attack from a virus – a type of coronavirus to be precise. This virus has caused the death of millions globally and will probably go down as one of the deadliest in history. However, the real legacy of COVID-19 is much more sinister. The COVID-19 legacy of hate and division will be with us long after COVID-19 is gone.
We have found a way to provide just the right conditions for this physical blob of protein called COVID-19 to mutate into something much more sinister and much more resistant to treatment. The conditions have been just right for this physical ailment to mutate into an emotional one. This new virus or legacy for COVID also has a name: hate. Hate is a condition for which there is no vaccine but, like COVID, infection rates are heavily choice dependent.
A Crisis that Divides Instead of Unifies
In almost all cases, a crisis tends to bring a people together. Whether it’s a crisis in a family, a city, or a country. Who hasn’t seen it where neighbor upon neighbor come together after a tornado rips through town or cancer strikes a family? This COVID-19 crisis has been different though; it has torn us limb from limb pitting communities and family members against each other.
We are a nation founded on individual rights and freedoms for sure. We are also a nation that reports itself to believe in the rule of law and a land professing to bear a great moral compass. All three of these aspects now find they cannot live in the same house and the divorce has begun. It’s up to each of us to now decide which parent we want to live with.
There has even been discussion that this has been the worst national division since the civil war. Our disdain and even hatred for one another is nearly all we can see in front of us as we try to decide which side we are on in this mess. To mask or not to mask is now the question – the only question.
Physical vs Emotional Scars
The day will come when we may forget why we hate each other – leaving arguments of who is an “essential” worker and who is disposable and leaving terms like “mask up” to the history books. But emotional scars from human division will continue to reap rewards far after anyone remembers how those scars were originally produced.
This is just the nature of how emotional damage continues for generations. There is little debate regarding the damage of emotional wounds compared with physical wounds. Physical scars heal, but emotional damage continues to work in and through us hindering our ability to function in a healthy fashion. This virus, hate, is contagious as well. These wounds and this contagion will be passed on to our children and then their children.
Will Shame have the Last Word?
Shame’s goal is division. Hatred is the handiest of tools to get to that goal. In 2020 shame won – we have been divided.
It will be interesting to see if this destructive force wins out in 2021. There is suggestion that the change of presidency will bring healing to this land. That’s a lie that shame will also manipulate to divide us as we attempt to demonize one man and sanctify another. Regardless of who is President, the choice to hate and divide has been and continues to be ours alone. This will be the conclusion of the story – determining if we can all step back from the collective ledge we are in and save this marriage for the sake of the kids. It’s time to unmask this hidden driver and its effects before the Covid-19 legacy of hate and division is cemented.
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