We have worked this week to find humanity amid crisis around the world and bring good news to our readers.
Pope: COVID-19 teaches us we are one human community
In the interview with “La Stampa”, published on Friday, Pope Francis speaks of the sorrow and pain that “everyone” is experiencing due to the coronavirus. The only way to survive this situation, he says, is by sticking together. The Pope invites us to live this moment “with penance, compassion and hope”. We need “humility”, he adds, “because too often we forget” there are dark times in life as well. “We think they can only happen to someone else. But these times are dark for everyone”, he says. Pope Francis explains that the season of Lent “trains us to show solidarity with others, especially those who suffer”.
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Pub Choir’s evolution to Couch Choir brings light during coronavirus crisis with Close to You
The evolution of Pub Choir for the age of coronavirus, Couch Choir, has drawn more than 1,000 videos from across the world as they strive to bring people together during social isolation.
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How Britain’s ‘plague village’ is coming together
More than 350 years ago, the Derbyshire village of Eyam quarantined itself during the plague. Now it’s using those lessons about humanity to face coronavirus.
The BBC’s Fergal Keane went to visit a community that remains hopeful in the face of troubling times ahead.
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“Every man for himself” is not a solution to pandemic, Pope says
“In this moment, instead of laying off, we must welcome and make everyone feel that there is a society of solidarity.”
“Every man for himself’ is not a solution to pandemic, pope says.”
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We must not allow the coronavirus to rob us of our humanity. How can we (safely) preserve it?
“Taken away” might not be the right way of phrasing it. That connotes that we lack agency in whatever is happening to us. Instead, we might ask what happens when some of our usual social connections are given away. By this, I mean when we freely decide that there is some greater good that we hope to achieve and it is by changing how we live together that we are best able to achieve it.
It is similar to how a married couple does not have their freedom to date other people taken away; they freely give that freedom for the sake of something greater. As someone who loves college basketball, initially March Madness felt taken away, but with a little bit of distance (pun intended) we might gain the freedom to actually give such things away.
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Commentary: Meditating on death during a pandemic
St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and a great spiritual guide, recommended meditating on death as part of his “Spiritual Exercises,” a series of meditations to help a person on retreat come closer to God and discover what he wants us to do.
Here are some things we might think about doing during this pandemic when we meditate on death.
First, we need to think about family. Pope Francis says that the most important words in a family are “Thank you” and “I am sorry.”
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Staying Positive During Coronavirus Crisis. How to use your spare time?
Australian academic, psychologist and author Lea Waters shares some advice as other activities and social engagements are cancelled during the coronavirus crisis. The video forms part of a multipart series looking at ways we can all stay positive
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These nursing home residents are spending their lockdown playing Hungry Hungry Hippos
“Everyone in the home team and residents are worried about the virus,” Michelle Williams, general manager at Bryn Celyn Care, told CNN. “But we are staying positive and doing what we do every day, which is supporting our residents, and keeping it as normal as possible.”
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Painting hearts, chalking sidewalks: Signs of solidarity while staying home during coronavirus crisis
We’re all looking for a little community amid the isolation of the coronavirus crisis, as we work and learn from home.
Friends are scheduling virtual happy hours on Zoom for a hit of social interaction. Kids are playing Battleship over FaceTime. And neighbors are meeting outside, standing a safe six feet apart while bouncing balls or blowing bubbles.
We’re smiling from across the street.
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Pope at Mass: ‘We pray for those who remain in fear’
Pope Francis prayed for those overcome by “fear because of the pandemic”, and reflected on the two women from Monday’s readings during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. (playback included)
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Finding connection and resilience during the coronavirus pandemic
“What is so important to humanity is connection. The kind of quarantines—in New York and Seattle, and what will happen in thousands of other places in the United States—will require people to connect in other ways,” he said. “One of the amazing things about the human species—once harmless critters not much more than monkeys running around—is that, over time, we have become very creative.
We’ve adapted to survive. That’s what people will rely on now—coming up with incredibly imaginative ways to find connections even when they’re not in the same physical space together.”
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In uncertain times, keep your heart in balance
Self-possession is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, says St. Paul
Whose life is this, anyway? If it’s mine, then I might not want to give it into the power of others so readily. Self-possession is a fruit of the Spirit, says St. Paul. Variously translated as self-control, self-mastery, self-command, self-restraint, temperance, continency, and equanimity—by any name, it means holding the reins of your life in your own hands. There’s much we can’t control in this world: the weather, the stock market, the behavior of other people, the possibility of pandemic. But we can control how we receive all of this wild input from the outside.
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Is there any good news about the coronavirus pandemic
In the midst of the fear, worry, and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, each day seems to bring news that’s worse than the day before.
The cause for concern is justified. But, as in most major disasters, tragedies, and public health threats, there are reasons for hope, and even optimism. They may be hard to see, even if you’re a “cup-half-full” or “it could always be worse” type of person. But they are there. Here are a few.
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Some positive news about the coronavirus response / 5 ways our world is a bit better from the global response to the pandemic
On February 27, as mass anxiety about the Coronavirus was beginning to spread, I wrote a post on the evolutionary dimensions of human propensity to over-interpret danger, and on the social, economic, and psychological risks posed by epidemic panic. My take at the time was that the global anxiety was disproportionate relative to the actual threat posed by the virus. Fear has escalated sharply in the past two weeks, and it has become difficult to offer reassuring news without conveying false hopes that may put vulnerable people at risk. But in these times of uncertainty, we also need to pause and celebrate some of the positive changes that have already occurred on an unprecedented scale.
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Stay positive: here are 23 pieces of good news regarding coronavirus
Headlines continuously read distressing news regarding the virus so we can all take advanced safety measures to protect not just ourselves, but also those around us.
Yet, there’s a handful of worldwide news doling out glimmers of hope in the midst of frightening times, and that’s important too.
So, we’ve rounded up all the good news about the virus worth catching up on.
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On the header, picture by Heather Englander. Original Source: https://www.cleveland.com/galleries/CMUKEX2YVRCDNNHXEVJLCHVLKQ/
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