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PHYSICAL DISTANCING The Spiritual Impact of Socializing by Shirley R. Bloethe
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n a time of national emergency, how do we filter through the many concerns around safe contact; how do we protect ourselves, our children and our family? There is panic pervading many places. Are our fears realistic? Are we looking at survival of the fittest? This virus is brand new; do we even really know how it is spread or transmitted? And what is the spiritual lesson here, if any? The official term social distancing— what we’ve all been asked to do– is an infection control action intended to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease. The objective of social distancing is to reduce the probability of contact between persons carrying an infection, and others who are not infected, so as to minimize disease transmission, morbidity and ultimately, mortality. One of the earliest references to social distancing dates to the Bible’s mentions of leper colonies, which were established as a means of 18
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preventing the spread of leprosy and other contagious diseases. However effective it may be, there are serious drawbacks to extended social distancing such as loneliness, reduced productivity, and the loss of other benefits associated with human interaction. The actual phrase social distancing itself is something of a misnomer that can cause some psychological and spiritual harm. What we are really being asked to do right now is keep our PHYSICAL distance from others in social settings, but the intention gets lost in the words. While it may be the correct epidemiological phrase, a more accurate phrase is physical distancing. This is a time to come together and support each other (i.e.. socialize) even if we shouldn’t touch each other and must keep a physical divide between us. We should not separate from our humanity and the people around us right now. This
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is not just the people in the United States, but in the entire world. This pandemic is affecting everyone everywhere! We need to strike a balance between taking care of ourselves and caring for others. Never has the phrase “We are All One” been more important. In a spiritual sense, we are all connected. We are all one in this pandemic, there is no division of race, color, creed. This has affected all people throughout the world—OUR world. So, while being physically distant may be necessary at this time, it has never been more critical for people to come together spiritually, psychologically, and support each other. Images and videos of Italians singing together from their individual home balconies is a beautiful example of this phenomenon. While appropriately physically distant, the people were socializing and supporting one another in a beautiful and uplifting way. The way we live our lives daily does
