Doom and gloom?

 2020 will, it seems, be remembered for being the year of Covid. As we are seeing the start of a second wave, we have no idea how bad this will be. I was reminded this morning that this year has been split into seasons by Covid too - the "Normal but seeing what happens" winter; the "Lockdown" spring; the "Freedom from lockdown" summer and the "Second wave, semi-lockdown" Autumn.

And, of course, one of the issues is the handing of this by western governments - UK and US specifically. For me, the handling makes me angry - this may be less than perfectly quakerly, but so many have died and been ill - the "Long Covid" impacts that will be with us for years are just starting to be seen, but appear to be devastating.

Next year - in the UK, we add on the shambles of Brexit, which will cause more suffering, more deaths, more chaos. So even if we make it through 2020, there are new challenges in 2021 to get through. It feels like a computer game - each level just builds the pressures, and if you can make it through: WELL DONE.

And then, as if tht wasn't enough, there is the Boss Level of climate change. This will not have gone away, but by the end of 2021, we will be 2 years nearer disaster than as we started 2020 with serious warnings and predictions.

The handling of this by the current government in the UK and US does not encourage me - there may be a change in the US, but there seems little chance in the UK, and if anyone wants to know how much the current administration cares about the natural world, the HS2 work is already destroying world-beating natural areas that should be preserved for the future. It does not bode well.

Is ther any hope? I don't know. I know each year we survive is an achievement. But each year that passes when we do not address the real, core, institutional problems the less likely we will survive longer. But maybe.

I am reading Tolkeins "Beren and Luthien" at the moment. The essence of so many of his stories is that while the evil seems powerful, it can be destroyed and brought down. Usually by the powerless, the small and weak. To the small and weak among us, we are important. And we will win.