2020 VISION

In January when we welcomed this new decade, none of us could have imagined what global changes we were about to encounter.  Within 90 days of ringing in 2020, all citizens of Planet Earth were dropped hands first into the sink for several washings per day; head first into daily data dumps of information, new cases and, sadly, new deaths; and heart first into a dystopian reality antithetical to life as we loved it… a reality characterized by self-quarantining, social distancing, no closeness, no hugging.

As we approached the 90-day mark during which our hands and our heads and our hearts had been grappling with the virus we call Corona, we thought we had secured the path we would walk for the foreseeable future.  We had altered and adapted our lifestyles, and we waited.  We learned about ourselves, and we missed our loved ones.  As we yearned for our old normal, we began to see that it was likely and largely gone, to be replaced (we said optimistically) by something better, to which we would be expected to adapt.

We began to look inside out and outside in, asking ourselves and each other:

“What have we learned?”

“What will we change?”

“How will we be better?”  

And those musings begged the obvious, and more serious:

“What metrics will prove our change is real?”

“How will we know we have learned, and have changed, and that we are better?”

We settled in in acceptance, anticipation, introspection.  We stayed in touch as we could.  We stayed optimistic.  We encouraged others.  “We are all in this together” became our anthem.  We prayed for the afflicted and wept for the dead.  As we universally agreed we were universally gobsmacked by so much of this that was uncontrollable, we struggled for stability.  We watched and we waited.   

Historians, we thought, who would someday write this chapter would need pen and ink and fonts not as yet invented.  They would have to see with fresh eyes and say with a fresh voice how a world under attack came together and found a cure.

We looked forward to reading that history, because it would mean this chapter was finally behind us, and we were free again.  Whatever the brave new world held for us, we knew would be better.  And we hoped and prayed that our world would unite in the many ways it had been divided, because we had learned that this enemy virus was no respecter of any standards of division we had previously held as meaningful. 

Now it’s approaching the 180^th day and we wake up to a crisis.  A man has been held down by a police officer, restrained forcefully to the point of death.  We look on in disbelief.  We try to harness our own emotions to listen and learn.  We share outrage and our voices are heard around the world.  The same global neighbors who have endured isolation caused by a common enemy seem to have identified another virus.  And although it has started in America, it becomes global as reaction spreads.  Through the web of interconnectedness which television, the internet and social media provide, the world looks into our country, and back at their own country, and draws a distinction… this pandemic we can control.

Today, the noble tradition of peaceful protest is bringing citizens of the world out of isolation.  Every thinking man, woman, and child seems to be sharing stories… the older among us are recalling protests of the past and the younger are listening and adding their own twist, fueled by the instantaneous communication flooding the globe.  Of course, we see the margins, where extremes crystallize in many forms… from the malicious to the opportunistic… but a global perspective seems to be unifying hands, heads and hearts toward a recognition that we can take the questions and the anthems we learned from COVID and apply them to this moment.

So please read on…

In June when we prepared to welcome the first summer of 2020, none of us could have imagined what global changes we were about to encounter.  Because as we approached 180 days after ringing in 2020, all citizens of Planet Earth took our hands out of the sink and clicked the remote, wrung in anguish, dialed a friend, and even drew up a protest sign; heads tried to wrap around sights and sounds of seemingly polarized chaos while trying to make sense out of it all; and hearts, broken but determined, set out toward uniting around the truths we hold to be self-evident. 

As we approached the 180th day during which our hands and our heads and our hearts had been grappling with the virus we call Corona, we identified another global virus and committed to securing a path we would walk for the foreseeable future.  We committed to altering and adapting our lifestyles, and we decided that waiting was not an option.  We learned about ourselves, and we affirmed our resolve to protect the future for our loved ones.  And we yearned no longer for our old normal, because we began to see that it was rightly gone, to be replaced by something infinitely better, to which we would willingly and lovingly adapt.

We again looked inside out and outside in, asking ourselves and each other:

“What have we learned?”

“What will we change?”

“How will we be better?”  

And those musings begged the necessary, and more imminent:

“What metrics will prove our change is real?”

“How will we know we have learned, and have changed, and that we are better?”

We adopted a different sort of acceptance and anticipation, knowing that chaos would give way to clarity.  We refocused our introspection.  We continued to stay in touch as we could.  We stayed optimistic.  We encouraged others.  “We are all in this together” was reaffirmed as our anthem.  We prayed for the afflicted and wept for the dead.  But now, armed with a global goal of unity, we universally agreed we were taking control of the controllable, and striving for stability.  We acted in solidarity, we enlisted as watchmen, and we swore off waiting in favor of acting.   

Historians, we were certain, who would someday write this chapter would need pen and ink and fonts not as yet even imagined.  They would have to see with fresh eyes and say with a fresh voice how a world attacking itself came together and found that all it needed was that… to come together.

We look forward to reading that history, because it will mean this chapter is finally behind us, and we are truly free.  All of us.  Truly and actually free.  And in this braver new world, we know we will be better – not just because we hope and pray – but because our world will unite in the many ways it has been divided, because we have finally learned that the only deadly enemy virus lies within us if we create, promote, or even tolerate any standards of division we had previously held as meaningful. 

Finally, our world will be better because we will hold ourselves accountable.  Our 2020 Vision will carry us back to ourselves and to each other, again and again, to the questions we learned during the isolation of that first virus: 

“What have we learned?”

“What will we change?”

“How will we be better?”  

Let’s set the bar where we know it should be.  Let’s honor the best of the lessons passed down to us.  But this time, let’s not repeat the sins of intergenerational promises broken, and opportunities lost.  Let’s ask ourselves:

“What metrics will prove our change is real?”

“How will we know we have learned, and have changed, and that we are better?”