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Richard Burrill's avatar

A friend posted this on Face Book today. It's from RARE BAGS with John Farrell, August 26, 2021, at 3:14 AM. The author is the great thinker Arundhati Roy. You may remember her novel "The God of Small Things."

"What is this thing that has happened to us? It's a virus, yes. In and of itself it holds no moral brief. But it is definitely more than a virus... It has mad the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to 'normality', trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality. Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it."

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Linda MacDonald's avatar

I love her writing. Thank you for posting this fabulous quote. She is not the only one who has expressed these thoughts of a rupture with the past and a turn toward something new. I just hope continually it will be something more life giving that what we've had to live with up until now.

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FERN MCBRIDE (NYC)'s avatar

Thank you, Richard. Arundhati Roy breathed life into our tiredness and lightened our burden.

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Liz Reiser's avatar

I need to learn about her. Thank you for posting this quote.

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Hope Lindsay's avatar

I adore her.

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Bonnielou's avatar

A beautiful prayer to remember. A place to help us through sorrow and hope.

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