The collapse of the Genoa bridge cannot but be perceived by all as a huge tragedy.
A chasm opening up and plunging lives into the void.
Each of us identified for a moment with those who were directly affected by this event, and the “I could have been there” was everyone’s thought
It’s true – any of us could have been there at that time, on that bridge,
but that was not the case
we were not part of that plan
Luck? Perhaps
But which plan are we part of?
I think we who are still here are part of a plan that is perhaps even more “scary” and “dangerous”
The plan for change
We are part of those who are called to change things – to make sure that the sacrifice of those lives broken by the bridge collapse was not in vain
To those who feel like trying to open a space of “other” observation …I dedicate these very personal reflections of mine
the broken bridge broke the city, broke lives … and broke much more
- broke the routine
the routine of all of us who day in and day out went through that stretch of road on autopilot to or from workplaces to which we go for duty; the routine of hours of standing in line stopped every single day (without us even noticing anymore the value of our time thrown there … “because it’s normal”); the routine of always taking the same route to go to the same place without even noticing anymore what we have around
- Broke the wall of silence and resignation
the silence of those who have been seeing and knowing for a long time, of those who have become accustomed to living with a highway bridge resting on the roof of their house and have come to terms with it, the silence of all of us who have always tended to think that “that’s the way it is, what can you do about it”
- broke the loneliness
the loneliness of so many of us accustomed to coming and going alone in our cars, accustomed to interacting “just enough” with our neighbors during the day because we are too tired and plagued by our own problems – indifferent to what is happening around us, to the misfortunes of others, not for lack of heart but for lack of “resources”
has broken, nay, is giving us the chance to break (and herein lies we the “scary” task mentioned above) that “system” that is leading to the destruction of our planet and the affliction of humans
To be on a material level, we could say a system of corruption, of malfeasance, of total disassociation from one’s human condition that leads some human beings to think they can speculate or enrich themselves on the skin of other human beings without realizing that we are part of a whole and that that evil, that pain, that suffering will spread touching everything and everyone.
Trying to broaden the view a little more, one could say that that collapse is giving us a chance to break a system of automatisms in which many of us have lost ourselves, in which many of us no longer even notice that we do not know what we want, in which many of us do not notice that we are daily governed in our “choices” by fear.
Whenever we reason in terms of blame, hatred, revenge, summary justice, provocation, anger….we miss the great opportunity to bless those lives that were called to sacrifice to give us something much greater
The task to which we are called I called it “scary” because it can be really scary: loving (because that’s what it is) can be really scary
love? love? In the face of such havoc? In the face of so much pain? to so many economic and political interests?
yes
but beware! loving is not doing OHM and trying to feel good! – To love is to be there, really
to love is to rebel – in a healthy, pure non-instrumental way (I’m thinking of us as citizens and the politics that as much as it disgusts us …it represents us, whether we like it or not it is a mirror of us)
to love is to have justice – but true justice (not summary, not instrumental to the venting of personal frustrations and anger); and let us remember that justice ,by its nature, includes forgiveness
To love is to have the courage to not blame outside and to understand what each of us can do to improve this world, our world, to honor those lives of those who are gone and honor our lives every day
to go back to what I was saying at the beginning and to be in daily practice, in what every day in our “small” (which small is not ) we might see it like this:
To love and honor life could be:
- Stopping your routine and asking yourself in the morning when you get into the car: where am I going? Why am I going there? Is that really where I would like to go? If that’s not where I want to go how can I change anything?
To love and honor life could be
- change perspective during the journey – if I cannot change the destination understood as the place where I go I can change the way I travel – the new roads that we find ourselves traveling today ,since the bridge is no longer there, are an opportunity to become present to ourselves again; some of us have the feeling of getting lost in these early days – let us enjoy this opportunity
new roads, new routes, new viewpoints (e.g., landscapes, neighborhoods) new landmarks (a new breakfast bar), the need to pay attention to where I am and where I am going (because the new road implies that the auomatic driver cannot work)
To love and honor life could be
- experience the pleasure of doing a piece of the road with someone, perhaps sharing the journey, even a stranger-the same stranger we have a desire to help when we are caught up in a tragedy-why does it have to be the tragedy that unites? why can’t the union, the solidarity that have blossomed in these days be daily nourishment for all of us?
a bridge has collapsed …it is up to us to bring light and love to bring down a system that is destroying everything and everyone
this is our real challenge, this is our responsibility
Courage friends, love is waiting for us
I want to be there, do you?
