A prayer for 2021

In A tale of two cities, Charles Dickens opens with: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. These words are certainly pertinent as we transit from a very difficult year for many to a new one with much trepidation.

2020 has been the best of times as we have re-discovered the value of friends and family through forced social distancing. We also discovered new ways to learn, share, and work through an accelerated shift to digital technology which has given us a renewed appreciation for science and for our ability to cooperate with one another and, simply, cope with the new and the different.

2020 has also been the hardest of times, as the world has undergone a major economic, social, political, and health earthquake, and the tectonic shifts produced will likely affect us for years to come.

Millions have been infected, many have died, economies have been wrecked, people have lost their jobs and in many cases their hopes, and many face this new year with a great sense of uncertainty.

Yet, like every new year, 2021 brings some hope and I still have a few prayers.

I pray that human resilience can and will lead us through this new normal.

I pray that we have a renewed respect for all sectors of the medical community who daily put themselves at risk to care for us on a daily basis.

I pray that we will develop a greater sensitivity towards the less fortunate, as we ourselves learn to struggle along with less.

I pray that politicians will learn to put aside pettiness and work for the benefit of all of us.

I hope that people everywhere can come together to learn how to address major challenges rather than take go-it-alone strategies that get us nowhere.

We have seen how international scientific cooperation and advances in technology and artificial intelligence have led us to create a number of effective vaccines in months rather than years. 

2021 can be the year that politicians change how they do politics, and one where voters become more demanding of their leaders and governments so that they learn to serve people rather than themselves. 

It can also be the year when we learn to leave ideologies behind and focus more on common sense, compromise and consensus.

2021 can also provide all of us with an opportunity to explore ourselves in a deeper manner, allowing our intuition to guide us towards a more fulfilling spiritual reality.

I always say God unites, religion divides. 

We have seen the misery that religious extremism has cast upon us all – from Islamist extremism to Hindu radicalism to right wing Christian fanaticism in the United States and elsewhere. It is time for us to learn to find God inside ourselves and depend on our own wisdom rather than the diktats of others – however well-meaning they may be.

Science and facts have disproven all of the false information proposed by many populist leaders and their followers about the pandemic and many other issues.

2021 should be the year that we listen to science to help us address the myriad challenges that we face and rely on facts upon which to base personal and collective decisions. There are far too many of us who do not believe in vaccines, climate change, and other major challenges facing us, and mistrust the facts presented and spread lies.   

2021 can also be the year that we start to address global social and economic inequity. Societal stability is being put to the test everywhere and we must do more to make the world a more just place for all to enjoy a decent life.

And, finally, we must learn that the environment is in a perilous state and that a green economy is essential if we are to sustain life over the longer term. This makes sense not only in environmental terms, but also in commercial, economic, and human terms.

However, 2021 can be successful if we change our individual and collective behaviors and not simply leave it up to others to change theirs. 

Change begins with the one, and, when the one becomes many, reality can be transformed.

Let’s make these our prayers for 2021 and beyond.

Happy New Year to all.

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Edición: Laura Espejo