If You Can’t Go Out, Go In

In this time of social distancing, it is always important to remember that social distance does not mean emotional distance. 

Deaths from Covid-19 are increasing. A wife became a widow, a son never got to say goodbye to his father. We are all a part of this suffering, but we also still need to keep moving. We are depressed, disheartened, distracted and disappointed, but we still must make it through the day. 

Reach out to a friend, an isolated person whom you have not seen in some time or a family member. Reach out to a mentor or a teacher who helped you. Just pick up your phone and call them. 

Remember, if you cannot go out, go in. If you cannot go outside your home or your apartment, go inside yourself via meditation. When is the last time you sat down and meditated? 

“By going inside and meditating on the human condition. The human spirit endures”

Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, told us to “meditate profoundly, that the secret of things unseen may be revealed unto you.” We are not a human having a spiritual experience, we are a spiritual entity having a human experience. In other words, we are a soul with a body having a human experience. The Baha’i Writings say:

The troubles of this world pass, and what we have left is what we have made of our souls; so it is to this we must look – to becoming more spiritual, drawing nearer to God, no matter what our human minds and bodies go through. – Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian

Spare a moment for grief and sorrow, but after a point, realize the futility of it and get back to the matter of living. This event will be embedded in our consciousness as a turning point of our lives, but its mark will grow smaller and less important with the passage of time. 

Let us not be indifferent to the suffering of others; we should show them compassion and kindness and acknowledge that getting back to normal will be difficult, but not impossible. They may think they will never laugh again, but they will. We need to remind them that they are not alone in this moment of loneliness.

How can we do this, when we can’t go outside? By going inside and meditating on the human condition. The human spirit endures. 

This virus will either weld us together or drive us apart. May it be the former.