It’s Easier To Believe
When I talk to people or watch the news, it’s easy to sense the despair and anxiety. Many call it a “panic,” but it’s really a mixture of so many emotions. Seeing landmarks empty or experiencing isolation at home can fill us with fear and sadness. But I want to challenge us all to look at things from a different perspective.
As you probably know, my Bubby was an inspiration for my campaign to serve as our Attorney General. After giving birth to my mother in a Nazi concentration camp, she taught my mom–and later me–the importance of hope in dark times. When I asked her how she survived such unimaginable hardship, she told me simply, “It’s easier to believe.”
That belief and hope is what we need right now.
We are living in a time of hardship, but those empty landmarks are demonstrations of people trying to help their neighbors. Your time social distancing might save someone else’s grandmother. This epidemic especially targets the elderly, so all those empty schools show our youngest generation helping to save their elders.
Seen in this light, deserted landmarks are a thing of beauty because they represent us looking out for each other.
We cannot deny the hardship and fear of these times. For those who work in food service and rely on tips to put meals on their own family tables. For those who deal with depression. For those whose age or preexisting condition makes them afraid for their lives.
That’s why I’m so grateful that Governor Polis took quick and decisive action on testing and protective measures, and why it’s so meaningful to see many leaders in government, nonprofit, and business put Colorado’s spirit of community problem solving to work. In the Attorney General’s office, we have created a Coronavirus Task Force to confront this crisis.
In our times of hardship, I am inspired by these words from Scripture: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” All Coloradans will need to do what they can to limit the spread of this virus and support one another. It is challenging, and my heart is with every mother and father who is worried about paying the bills and every person who fears for their safety and the safety of their family. But I pray that we can stay positive and remember that “it’s easier to believe.” We can get through this together–even if we are keeping our social distance (staying six feet apart from one another).
I will close with some lines from a poem that has been making the rounds online. Written by a monk in Ireland, it ends with thoughts on people in Italy who have chosen to sing across their balconies as they stay indoors for the greater good:
“Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.”
Thank you for your engagement and for supporting me in serving the people of Colorado. And thank you for all the sacrifices you are making so that we can believe in—and protect—a better future.
Phil
Colorado Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) Covid Resources