Tucson Opinion: Virus reminds us to embrace virtue of humility

The other day I had an occasion to visit a bank. I donned my mask and entered. And as I did, I couldn’t help but muse over the fact that a little over a year ago, if someone walked into a bank wearing a mask, that bank’s security would be all over them. And yet today, if you walked into a bank without wearing a mask, security would be all over you as well.

What a difference one year has made; what changes we have undergone. Without a doubt our lifestyles have been greatly altered, and a variety of adjustments were required to be made. Nothing is the same any more and most likely won’t be for quite some time.

However, there is one big factor within this major health issue that we tend to overlook and/or underrate. It is this: The coronavirus — this tiny microscopic virus — has brought the whole powerful human race to its knees.

It has humbled us to the point of submission. The virus has redefined the meaning of being important — earned or self-appointed.

In the real world, a genuinely important person does not flaunt their significance. It is automatically seen and known and respected. Importance in a person is not grounds for bragging or boasting but rather to use the benefits of being important for the benefit of others.

True importance is caring and sharing. It is understanding and forgiveness, displaying sincere empathy and concern for those less fortunate and less important. Combined together, someone who holds a high rank in any field of endeavor will automatically have these special traits. And consequently they don’t have to prove they are important; their actions and deed will point that out to all others.

During this time of the coronavirus, the world is consumed with conquering this disease. Humans are desperately attempting to turn the conditions around wherein the human humbles the virus. And if successful, there is a great danger that we have not learned our lessons and haven’t spent time reevaluating our fragility in this brittle world.

Today, not only is the coronavirus causing us to be humbled, but climate change, animal and plant extinctions, pollution and waste are also showing our ignorance and reducing our importance in this world. They are slowly eroding our assumed superiority and reducing us to slaves of the natural world. This will continue to humble us until we learn how to be subjected to nature’s unmitigated powers.

I wonder if humans today really know how to be humble. It appears to me that there is a growing degree of cockiness and pomposity slowly descending upon the whole world. And yet there are millions who lack the basic necessities to sustain life. The self-important people tend to ignore them and care not what happens to these less fortunate ones.

If they did, the poverty and depravation would be reduced considerably, if not eliminated. If all the “important people” in this world turned their attention to fighting the extreme inequities and injustices on our planet, then the display of true, genuine humility would shine though into perpetual brightness.

I often envision the perfect world. In it, I see a self-effacing, even-keel and caring society wherein all people have a right to a good and happy life. And when I come out of my muse, I see people wearing face masks and distancing themselves from others and getting COVID vaccines. I see what the world will continue to be unless we all start becoming less important and embrace the virtue of humility.