«A little wiser and full of hope»

Aviso: Mi inglés es limitado… pero hace unos meses, durante el confinamiento me atreví a escribir en esa lengua. Este fue el resultado, un articulo sobre el silencio y la solitud, desde la figura de una mujer impresionante: Edith Bone. Puedes leer aquí la versión original, en castellano. Originalmente el texto fue publicado por AgustinosRecoletos.org en su versión inglesa el 9 de Abril de 2020.

We have been quarantined for several weeks; we are trying to curb coVID-19 contagion. But this week is different. It is Holy Week, the most important week of our faith! A week ago, I invited my friends to pray and wash their hands… Today we are still being held at home, and it seems that the number of infected and deceased does not decrease; on the contrary, it increases. And it’s straightforward Westfall into the waste, comes the question: And now what do we do?

The phrase that leads this reflection is from Dr. Edith Bone. It is somewhat known in our Spanish-speaking society. Still, it conveys excellent teaching in the ‘Art of Walking around the house‘. I met her thanks to a book by Michael Harris, Solitude: Towards a Life with Meaning in a Frantic World, Paidos,2018. Dr. Bone was a doctor, journalist,  translator, and member of the British Communist    Party…  The year 1949was, as a journalist, to cover the Hungarian revolution and was seized by the State Protection Authority. She has lived completely isolated for seven years. Post or a diary about those days – which is only published in English – Seven Years Solitary. Publisher Andrea D’Atri included it in his book ‘Luchadoras’. Stories of women who made history…  The chapter dedicated to she (pages 249-260) is written by Celeste Murillo and mainly refers to Edith’s experience in Hungary.

Many of his anecdotes are amazing, some amazing, and others extremely intelligent. One day,  during the summer of 1951, she decided to do –what she called– Linguistic Strike. Consisted of not speaking Hungarian and requesting that she be communicated in one of the other five languages she mastered. The doctor’s really impressive is her ability to keep the balance in such a situation. Some of the activities that he  decided to carry out during his confinement  were: 

-To recite all the poetry he knew,  then translate those verses – which he knew by heart – to the languages he mastered; 

-Inspired byándose  an account of Tolstoy, mentally traversing   all the cities he knew  for having visited them:  Paris, Rome, Florence,  and even concrete places such as Mozart’s house in Vienna;  

-Thanks to an abacus that was made with stale bread and a broom sow – count whatáwords knew until it reaches  27,369 words which made up his English vocabulary; so did he with the other languages he knew.

The confinement we are living in this time can be very diverse and in many cases full of things: some are alone at home, others accompanied only by the nearest family, others locked away only with their religious community like me. Mental health professionals invite us with some tips such as following a routine similar to the one we usually did before quarantine: 

-following the schedule to start the day, showering, 

-fixing ourselves as when we go to work or daily activity, 

-not letting we be overcome by time thieves like mobile, social media, or las series.

I would love to get out of these quarantine days, a little wiser and above all,  full of hope. This holy week already begun can be the source of wisdom and faith.  We are at the gates of the Easter Pascual, the most important days for us Christians, days full of passion, days when Christ comes to pass us and tells us how much he loves us, days when Lord plays a «go all-in» for us.

Christians cannot go to church, but we can be a Church from home and receive the magisterium of Jesus and become wiser, not only in intelligence but in resources to be better children of God; Jesus will fill with hope so that we can live Easter with Joy. Courage, we are on the way to Easter!