Does the pandemic ask us and allow us to question everything? (John Lennon edition)

by Bob Schwartz

I am sorry to say that I missed noting what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday on October 9. It should have been a bigger deal for me and the world, but we were apparently otherwise occupied.

Apart from what we believe in, there is reason to suggest that we are better off believing in somethings. But what those things are is a big question hanging over our individual and shared lives.

Loss and crisis are circumstances that prompt us to question our beliefs. Loss and crisis is the definition of this pandemic, in America and around the world.

It is more than okay to question and to doubt in these times. It is natural and necessary. But the questioning and doubt should not be free-floating. Find some tools to help you through the questioning and doubts. Just be careful not to confuse those helpful tools with answers. Digging is not about the shovel. It is about whatever you discover.

The song God was released in 1970 on Lennon’s first solo album. Happy birthday, John.

God

God is a concept by which we measure our pain
I’ll say it again
God is a concept by which we measure our pain

I don’t believe in magic
I don’t believe in I-Ching
I don’t believe in Bible
I don’t believe in Tarot
I don’t believe in Hitler
I don’t believe in Jesus
I don’t believe in Kennedy
I don’t believe in Buddha
I don’t believe in Mantra
I don’t believe in Gita
I don’t believe in Yoga
I don’t believe in Kings
I don’t believe in Elvis
I don’t believe in Zimmerman
I don’t believe in Beatles

I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that’s reality

The dream is over
What can I say?
The dream is over
Yesterday
I was the dreamweaver
But now I’m reborn
I was the walrus
But now I’m John
And so, dear friends,
You’ll just have to carry on
The dream is over