So much has changed in a week. The world feels unfamiliar and scary, and the very things we used to do to comfort each other are now the very things that may put ourselves or our neighbors in danger - personal contact, community gatherings, neighborly visits.

Several years ago, post 911, I wrote an article based on a reflective question that had been posed to my senior class at the Jesuit college I attended. How, then, shall we live? As we navigate this strange new world, I find myself thinking about it once again. It is a question for all ages, as relevant now as it was twenty, fifty, a hundred years ago. How then shall we live in the midst of a global crisis? How then shall we live when the future is uncertain and potentially unrecognizable? How then shall we live when we know that the most vulnerable members of our community will be suffering?

There are no easy answers, partly because we can’t foresee all the possible questions and repercussions yet. So, I’m left with some basic principles on which I try to base both my inner mindset and my outward behavior.

Live simply so others may simply live. I can’t remember where I first heard this little gem, but it feels so relevant right now. If we use what we need, but not more, there will be enough.

Fear is toxic. It’s so easy to become swept up in the chaos, to imagine worst case scenarios, but fear will not positively impact outcome.

This moment is all we are guaranteed. When the future is so murky, we are forced to live in the here and now. We can appreciate a walk with the dog, a dinner with our family, the sunrise over the water.

As we navigate this challenging new world, which may redefine our normal, can we consciously imagine how, then, we shall live?

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” - Rumi