Yesterday, I found myself uncharacteristically switching off the news. At the time I

felt I wanted to escape – I couldn’t take any more of the reality of covid 19 and the

terrible suffering it’s bringing, the loneliness it’s causing. What happened was that I

didn’t ‘escape’ from reality, but I was reminded of other realities. Simultaneously on

another station, I learned that figs have evolved in such a way, as only to let into the

fruit one particular kind of wasp. A beautiful revelation about the amazing eco

system we are part of ourselves. I also heard elsewhere some stunning singing of a

17 th century opera aria - celebrating the invention of the human musical brain in

both composition and performance.

The covid 19 story is so relentless and comprehensive because there is no part of our

lives left untouched by its effects. A football manager on this programme yesterday

when asked if covid was making football matches ‘difficult’ with no fans or

atmosphere, replied with despair in his voice; it’s worse than difficult it’s pointless.

Taking away what makes life worth living is a virus-induced outcome that sits

alongside the medical ones. If we allow it, it seems like the only story in town.

As part of what makes life worth living, religion has also been guilty, is still guilty

sometimes of convincing its adherents that there is only one story, one dominant

way of interpreting reality, of looking at the world.  What is inevitably rather tender

truth about life and death can be corralled by a fretful religious desire to unify by

domination, creating doctrines that brook no opposition, admit no contradiction.

But the best kind of religious practice will always want to say that paradox, creativity

and mystery are the soul’s native language, its mother tongue. Christians forget at

their peril that Jesus wrote no doctrinal treatises, he told stories. And helped people

hold within themselves multiple truths; that they were forgiven as well as culpable,

that they were free at the same time as obedient.

Covid 19 is the dominant story of our lives at the moment; the virus is ruthless in its

threat to crush our creativity, and destroy our hope.

Just as important as physical wellbeing is the irreducible need for spiritual and

emotional resilience, refusing to let our thoughts be colonised by the repetitive and

corrosive anxiety that covid brings.

This is in itself building resilience in a pandemic; reclaiming our power to choose

what stories we listen to and what stories we tell.