How practicing a Bahá'í life has help us endure this pandemic

This is the second part in series of articles related to COVID-19, from my perspective as a Bahá’í foremost and as healthcare professional. In this article I want to point precise things that has helped us cope with this situation thanks to our life practices as Bahá’ís.

Maybe as a Bahá’í yourself this ideas lie in your subconscious, but I believe is a good think to put them afloat in an effort to strengthen those practices even more. After reading it, you’re invited to reflect upon it and comment about it.

● The fast

It is clear that we all won’t have equal access to food these days, and the most ideal situation would be to stretch what we have as long as possible. For those accustomed to 3 food times and snacks in between this would be a hard blow.
Even if we ourselves have that routine, we have the blessing of the annual fast before Naw-ruz which bestows us with many buffs that help us go through this scenario, reminding us that prayer is before eating elevating our core being.

● The free search of truth

There is a heavy presence of fake news and recommended speculations about how to endure COVID-19 the best way possible. The principle has teach us that we can’t take for granted anything we hear, and now more than ever we need to discern them from the truth or we ourselves can become perpetrators of wrongdoing by sharing that information.

Usually, news reporters try to make headlines as impacting as they can be to call for attention, but when you reach for the source of the news you can realize that the headline is just half the story or words taken out of context.

Concerning the recommendations about what to eat, drink or do to endure COVID-19, we really don’t know by facts and that’s because this is a novel coronavirus, most things about it are new and we just don’t know enough to tell with certainty if it’s truth; sometimes this recommendations can be innocuous but some other times they can lead to allergic reactions making things worse.

What’s my recommendation as a Healthcare worker and somebody that wishes for the best for you, my friends:
Regarding news, always check with the Healthcare Institutions like the World Health Organization or the CDC which have presence in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

On the subject of how to endure COVID-19, my best advice is to prepare your soul in prayer and your physical body in good condition: ¿Are you diabetic or have high blood pressure? Be sure to keep that under control and don’t run out of medication to you or your family  ¿Are you overweight or under weight? Fix that, you are on time ¿None of the above goes with you? You can always tone your muscles with exercise.

This same search for truth can also help us know if the optional measures issued by the officials are for your benefit or not; in the first part of this articles I make a point on how face mask is always the best option if you wish for the good health of others even if it’s not mandatory, but this could extend for this like lifting of quarantine measures; one must always be aware to which length can you move within the freedom the government allows.

●  Thinking as a collective being

A principal carved in our hearths is Unity as a mankind; this pandemic has made this even clearer for the entire world as a something essential and it’s now in many people minds.

World health institutions are asking from us to put the wellbeing of other before ours acting as collective; it’s no longer about myself and my need; it’s about everyone being OK so I can be too. Anyone trying to be on top of others will find trouble as much as the people they try to leave below. The world is becoming conscious that my freedom can’t be a transgression other people freedom when the collective wellbeing is on play.

I hope this elevate us all to a point were you think the consequences of all our actions even if they appear harmless.

● The wish to serve

As previously stated, a collective wellbeing is necessary but also many countries have plainly asked for volunteers in any way their individual capabilities allows them to, be it remotely or on site; and on cases were nobody has asked publicly for help, a volunteer work has always been welcome even if sometimes is not has helpful o even careless (again a call for the search of truth to know if what you want to do is right and beneficial for others).

●  Education and good manners

This many times is something to be built over the years, for some this pandemic has made them forge accustoms overnight, we as Bahá’ís know the advice from to adopt the most refined manners as possible so even if this health measures weren’t our habit, we make an extra effort to make it ours, this will in turn avert us from many other diseases.

● Financial Education

Maybe not everywhere Bahá’í Faith is developed enough to tell if it applies to every Bahá’í, but it is within the teachings and that’s why I mention it.

Knowing the extent of our finances and how to handle them in times of crisis can be a crucial factor in the months to come; fortunately we already had some financial advice from our religion beforehand.

● Child Education

The Kitab-i-Aqdas puts special emphasis on the effort a parent should make to instruct their children, as such we’re well versed in helping with child education at home even before it could be a requirement for school education at home; we can have more patience and skill to handle this classes as we would with children classes some of us did a service after finishing Ruhí book 3.
If we have teach a child a prayer, it doesn’t to be all that different for basic studies imbued with the magic used in bahá’í children classes.

● No laziness allowed

The quarantine has put in our hand quite a lot of time available, and even if the general recommendations is to have a good time playing games or watching movies, the Kitab-i-Aqdas makes clear that is only going to be a fraction of our time. For us our time should focus on making or learning something beneficial for everyone or ourselves. If you are reading this, chances are you have a good Internet connection and are well aware of the countless material to learn on it free or paid, to be read, listened or watched, or even you could make available your knowledge to others. From home gardening to computational programming, there are many things you can learn without leaving home or breaking the bank savings. If you have any tutorial course you want to recommend or are currently working on, be sure to share on the comment section below.

● Knowing Death is part of life

OK, some of us might kick the bucket in the months to come despite our best efforts to take care of ourselves or our family, but we aren’t depressed because we know is part of our spiritual growth. Abdu’l-Bahá used to say than to think the soul perishes along with the body is like thinking a bird in a cage dies if you destroy the cage.

This is such a studied subject in Bahá’í Faith than it is in the first Ruhí book and countless other teachings from Bahá’ú’lláh.

Well, that’s it for today. I’m writhing this from a really old computer and a low specs phone, so I could be lacking on cited sources or direct transcripts from the teachings, I hope you forgive me for that but I wanted my opinion be known because I haven’t seen an article like this one.