Chapter 1: Introduction
Living in History
Chapter 1: Introduction
It feels rather strange. I’m waiting, itching, to be called awake and back to reality from this dream. Better referred to as a nightmare. Or rather be told “April Fools” given today is the first of April. Yes, I am aware that I am a bit behind documenting on the pandemic schedule – if I was in China it could be safe to say that I have missed that boat all together. Now a days there is only one day with one hot topic – COVID 19, or what the kids prefer to call “Rona.” I’d like to think it smears humour to cover the fear - like butter smears toast. Unfortunately, when toast first emerges from the toaster its rising heat melts and dissolves its above layer, and all that lies beneath is revealed. Initially it was easy to look past what was referred to as the common flu. An even more deceiving lie was the virus that only affects the old, weak and compromised. But I digress this is not the case. I have quite a bit to fill you in on, of course this is all that is being discussed and it has been this way for the past few weeks. As I write to you, the news is on with headlines from the updated deaths in every country and my sister relays her fears on the phone to, yet another, troubled individual. In South Africa it is day six of lock down and my family and myself have been in self isolation for sixteen days. My parents got back from the United Kingdom a week before, around the eighth of March 2020. I’ll refrain from diverting my speech that direction just yet. Nevertheless – after studying historical wars, lamenting in its destruction, it had not yet occurred to me the war I was fighting. The one where we were all fighting and whether we wanted to draw our swards or not – we all had better place our armour on and seal it tight. This modern war was driven by an enemy more ruthless than other beings and more secretive to any naked eye than the smallest grain of sand. The enemy was unseen and had begun enlarging its forces long before it was known to the greater public. Its surrealism places a lot of us into movies. I have just finished watching an all-time favourite movie of mine, The Lord of The Rings, and even wars in movies the enemy is evident dressed in black shrieking to make its presence known and to signal the innocent to flee. Our modern enemy, however, came flying around the world, dressed in its invisible cloak carrying its bag of souls.
The virus was discovered in the late months in 2019 (hence the “19” in the name) in China, Wuhan. Accusatory whispers circulated that it was a biological weapon, Darwinists embrace this killing machine as part of natural selection and natural culling of murderous humans who have far exceeded their capacity on this earth. The religious look to God as both the cause and their salvation. As for myself – I can’t quite confine myself to any of those boxes and be fully present in one cause just yet. We laughed here, laughed at the hidden and limited news we heard of the emergence of this virus. For me anyway, I just never engaged and concerned myself much with it, with this fresh piece of toast that popped out of the toaster and filled the kitchen with the wafting smell of death, fear and the unknown. The virus had circled in China claiming some victims, yes initially the old and compromised but soon it’s circle of influence expanded, and many more countries fell into its sphere of influence – some later to kneel at its mercy.
