Dear friends,
Greetings from Spain. We hope this letter finds you well,
despite the exceptional circumstances we’re living in at the moment.
As you’re probably aware, Spain has been on lockdown
since last Saturday, when the PM addressed the nation to inform us of rather
extreme isolation measures. Since then, we have been house bound, unable to
leave unless to do food shopping or go to a pharmacy or doctor’s surgery. All
other public spaces, including schools, universities, shops, restaurants, hotels,
sports facilities, beaches, parks, churches,
cinemas, etc are closed. Folk are encouraged to work from home, but not
everyone can do that. So, millions of people are losing their jobs at the
moment, and those with small family business are wondering how long they will
be able to sustain themselves and their families with no income. As a backdrop
to this lockdown, the harsh reality that over 18,000 people have to date been
infected in the country, and over 800 have died – this is just in Spain. As you
know, other parts of Europe and the world are also suffering badly, with nearly
250,000 people infected and 10,000 deaths worldwide.
However, it’s not all bad news. The government has
promised much needed financial help for the most vulnerable and banks are
offering virtually interest free loans to small businesses. In the meantime,
it’s been amazing to see how people are really reaching out to each other
through social media, skype, whatsapp video, etc. And every evening at 8pm the
entire country goes out onto their balconies, windows and terraces to clap for
5 minutes to thank and encourage our NHS workers. They are really doing an extraordinary
job in these extraordinary times. This daily clapping ritual, surrounded by your
neighbours, with the noise of clapping in the distance as far as you can hear, has
become an amazing reminder that we are all connected and together and united in
this crisis... We have to confess, they can be quite emotional moments.
Just when we thought that things couldn’t get any worse,
with the spread of populisms and exclusive nationalisms around the world, we
have been reminded how fragile we are as human beings, and how the spread of a
virus like Covid19, does not distinguish between people’s ethnicity,
ideology or national borders. It really feels like we are in the midst of a
dark night of the world, a time of crisis that is shaking us all to the bone.
Yet, as so many women and men of God have reminded us throughout history, each
night is an opportunity to live by faith, to grow in love and acts of kindness,
and to seek the Beloved, although by night, especially because it is the night.
At Los Olivos we have already had to cancel one of our
group retreats for this year, and continue to monitor the situation to make
decisions about the upcoming Spring and Summer retreats. If you are booked into
any of our retreats, we will contact you directly with detailed information in
due course.
Our prayer for all of you is that, in the middle of this
dark night, you will be able to know the presence of the Beloved in your life
and your community.
Blessings,
Guy and Daniel
