Life’s poorer without people and sacred places

I wonder what would be filling our news programmes if it wasn’t for Covid-19. Yes, I’ve got FOMO – fear of missing out! Yet it’s a serious question as significant events creep under the radar – it shows how important it is to check out and support reliable newspapers, to get a more rounded sweep of what else is going on.

With so many media discussions of Covid-19, it’s welcome to hear some dealing with related spiritual and ethical concerns. Last Friday, on Thought for the Day (BBC Radio 4), journalist Tim Stanley spoke of how painful it was not being physically present at Mass. He started the reflection saying he went to church for the service, not for the people, happy if it was just himself and the priest. But through the experience brought on by the virus crisis he appreciated that people experience their Faith “together as a community of believers”. Life, he suggested, was impoverished without a sacred place to go to and others to communicate with.

Later that morning, ethical concerns figured on The Morning Show (Spirit Radio) when Rónán Johnston interviewed Prof. Tobias Winright, theologian and ethicist from St Louis University, USA. They discussed the ethics of triage, where the urgent needs of patients might be greater than the available resources which were finite. When prioritising was necessary it was suggested that it was important for choices to reflect values and that discrimination, prejudices and biases should be avoided – for example people shouldn’t be refused treatment just because they were, say, over 60.

Prof. Winright said that age was just one of many relevant factors – there was a “constellation of variables”. This wasn’t a new situation of course, there had been pandemics before. It struck me that similar dilemmas occurred in times of earthquake or famine when rescue workers or medics at feeding stations had to decide who got the limited food, medicine and other resources. In these situations it was never suggested that any patient be killed to relieve the problems of others, yet in debates on abortion that unmerciful approach is often the one taken.

I’ve been trawling again through the new Disney Plus streaming platform – there’s a seven-day free trial which should be enough to see what’s available. Most Star Wars films and spin-offs are there, except for the most recent film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. As for spin-offs (Rogue One is the best). I had missed it on cinema release and had heard some negatives, but I enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story – there were eye-popping action scenes, a reasonably engaging story and enough linking with the main Star Wars story arc to please the diehard fans. I thought the violence was stronger than usual and there were moral complexities that might make it unsuitable for the very young.

Crude

Though not originally a Disney show, all seasons of The Simpsons are there – it’s very funny but is not a children’s cartoon, can be moderately crude and is sometimes jaundiced towards religion. Yet it can be interesting on religious matters though very inclined to skewer the foibles of believers.

I remember episodes where God teaches valuable lessons to Homer and one where Bart sells his soul thinking it’s insignificant but learns its true value the painful way. All the Muppet films are there too (Muppet Treasure Island is one of the best) though unfortunately the original TV series is not.

Also funny but questionable as a children’s show, Young Sheldon (E4, Thursday) explored the matter of prayer. In the episode ‘Slump, A Cross and Roadside Gravel’ (this Friday, RTÉ1) Missy, Sheldon’s twin sister, was doing poorly at baseball so she prayed about it, much to the delight of Mary, her mother.

She even was willing to wear a cross that was special to the mother. All was going well until it turned into superstition – Missy’s game improved and the cross became a talisman – she was even rubbing it on the other players’ sporting equipment!

At one stage the mother got frustrated – in her prayer space in the garden she lamented that she had one child who didn’t believe in God (young Sheldon), one who thought God was a magic trick (Missy) and one (Georgie) who wasn’t interested because God was not a teenage girl!

I liked her parting words – “Lord…give me the strength to keep guiding my family to you, I can’t do it on my own.”