A trusted friend told me
That Shakespeare wrote King Lear
while quarantined.
How I can relate to that!
I’ve been quarantined for months
during a pandemic,
reading the great books,
and attending to the writing,
I didn’t have time for
until now.
I’m forced to wait
until the quarantine is over
like a space shuttle
waiting to return to earth.
Staying home is hard.
I’d rather flee to the supermarket
or make some other excuse to get away.
But how can I ignore this opportunity
to drop my know-it-all attitude,
raise the white flag
and ask God to show me a better way.
For instance:
How do my life decisions
look in retrospect?
What kind of person have I become?
What can I do to be a better person?
If I follow the wisdom
of the wise,
and higher guidance,
what will I do,
and how will I live?
What can I do
to be a part of making the world
a better place?
And who are the people
I’ve lost touch with?
Is this a good time to reach out to them
by a call or a letter?
To do all this
I’ll need more time
not less.
And my life will be better
for doing them.
Rather than ask
what the world will be like
when this solitude is over,
I’ll ask: “What will I be like?’’
I can’t be thankful for a pandemic.
But I can make the best of one.

– John Hayes