Â鶹Éç

Amidst all the drama and anxiety of the last few days, I was blessed to receive some good news – my son passed his final year exams at medical school and is now a young doctor. Like thousands of others who’ve finished a little earlier than they’d expected, he is both apprehensive and a little excited at the prospect of doing his bit for the NHS at such a critical time. But he has a fresh sense of purpose and duty which will hopefully sustain and inspire him.

In our strange and unsettling world, some – like him - have found new purpose others - like me - feel adrift, even helpless. I feel I can’t offer anything which really helps anyone else. As all the places and venues which are part of our daily lives, are now locked down, a life of movement is replaced by an almost static life of isolation. What gives life purpose is itself being redefined against the only thing which currently matters– how we keep ourselves and others safe. Staying indoors and keeping our distance when we have to go out, is the biggest contribution we can make to our country’s health just now. This new reality is essentially about prioritising the needs and desires of the collective over the individual, limiting our personal freedoms for a much greater good.
It’s the most moral thing we can do for ourselves and for one another yet it’s also the most emotionally challenging.

In all this maybe the mental and spiritual challenge we face is the need to rethink our ideas of purpose. That purpose isn’t tied to the individual rhythms of work and daily routine, but to something bigger which takes us outside of ourselves and our own desires. For all that we crave freedom, security and certainty this something bigger is about accepting uncertainty, and finding the courage to live in new ways which cultivate inner fortitude and patience. In Islam patience is described as one half of faith itself. The Qur’anic command to not lose patience and to not be sad, is not a passive acceptance of all social ills and injustices, but an encouragement to find hope and strength in the bleakest struggles.

The emotional and mental fallout of social distancing may well be far reaching. Home isn’t always a refuge, prayer doesn’t always provide solace and limiting our physical family space has its own challenges. Yet as we now enter this new period in our nation’s life, I feel grateful that I live in a society where the single most important purpose in life for just about everybody is simply to show that we care enough to do the right thing.

Show less