Often, when I say that COVID-19 is educating humanity, people wince a little, as if I said something inappropriate. People don’t like to be educated; they like to be on top, and education means absorbing knowledge from someone else, which puts the educator above and the student below.
But what if you knew that the teacher wanted nothing but what’s best for you? What if you knew that the teacher loved you and wanted you to succeed and have the best life you can have? Wouldn’t you learn gladly?
Our whole problem is that we think we are at war with nature, so we’re trying to dominate it. But nature created us; we can’t be above it or win against it, however hard we try. Moreover, nature has no desire to harm us. It is harmonious, and maintains all its components in harmony with one another. Humans are the only element in nature that resists this harmony and wants to be on top.
By impelling us to quarantine ourselves, nature showed us its beauty, brought itself to our doorsteps (often quite literally), cleaned the air and the water, and educated us about the harm we have been causing to ourselves and our surroundings all along.
Now that we are coming out of lockdowns, we can choose to maintain harmony with nature, or dump it and resume our self-indulging festivities. If we choose the former, nature will reward us tenfold. We will be far healthier, safer, and happier than ever. If we choose self-indulgence, nature, like a vigilant teacher, will punish again, but more severely, since we wouldn’t learn the first time. The choice, as always, is ours.
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