2020 is a year many would like to forget very quickly. It is the year that an invisible force shut down the economies of the world. 2020 is the year of the Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19. To date, more than 77 million cases of Coronavirus have been identified and over 1.6 million deaths reported globally and the numbers are growing exponentially daily. The second wave has started in many countries and most of these countries will be “locked down” during the Christmas and New Year period.

It all started in March 2020, when the Coronavirus (Covid-19) struck and the world experienced a shock it never imagined or was equipped to deal with. It has never been the same since then. It was the beginning of a new World Order. As some put it, the whole world was brought down to its knees. Suddenly, New York ‘the city that never sleeps’ went quiet. Cities and towns were deserted. Hugging and kissing were replaced with social distancing and at a stage it was against Government guidelines (almost a law) to visit family, friends and other loved ones. Even Mecca was empty! Suddenly wealth, power, status all meant nothing.

It didn’t matter whether you were black, white, brown or yellow. All that mattered was LIFE which no one had control over. No one talked about Brexit, wars, Boko Haram. It was all about survival, LIFE. Covid-19 was and remains a leveller. Presidents, Head of States, Leaders were confused, helpless and cried to God to intervene.

Working from home, zoom meetings became the norm. And the most commonly used words were “Covid-19”, “coronavirus”, “social distancing”, “lockdowns”, “sanitizers”, “facemasks”, “bubble”, “palliatives”, “furlough”, “Covid” vaccine” and “isolation centres”. Yes, 2020, is a year many want to forget but unfortunately, can’t forget.

Many predicted that it was the beginning of the end of the world, others felt that God was fed up with the actions or inactions of man and decided to act. There were all sorts of conspiracy theories as well.

Despite the difficulties we are going through now, there is no doubt that, there is brilliant light at the end of the tunnel and we must all work together to make the planet cleaner and a better place for all life on earth. There is no better time to understand and preach the message of the ONENESS of life, of humanity. If and when we understand this, there will be equality, no discrimination whether by race, colour, tribe, religion or gender. That is a lesson which Covid-19 has taught us. It does not discriminate.

Our thoughts and prayers are always with those who lost loved ones and to those who are still recovering from the infection. All will be well. Be strong and have faith.

May 2021, the year of vaccinations, be a better year and may it benefit from the lessons we learnt from our experiences in 2020.

•Bro Lee is a Servitor in the House of Truth.

Update news