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Imagine a small town, big enough to have a main street a few blocks long. There is one high school and there are three elementary schools. The residences stretch off in all directions. It is a beautiful, typical small town full of good people, no better nor worse than most. We are not perfect. The seven deadly sins* lurk always in the air, but we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about them; out of sight; out of mind. But our town is changing, our community is fading.

For some time, a year or two, maybe, the younger people have walked around holding little machines called Ipads or Ipods. The holders can look and talk to other holders all over the world with them. All well and good, but they have reduced contact with others in our town as the holders walk around looking at the machines rather than each other.

Presently there is sickness in our town, a dangerous sickness. People have died and/or been affected in various ways. One man I know of was very sick for a few weeks, went to a special hospital, now moves very slowly and needs a long nap each day. We use the word, Pandemic, when we talk about this spreading sickness because is an epidemic everywhere.  Because of this pandemic people stay home. Therefore there are fewer cars in the streets. Fewer cars mean that stores close earlier. That means fewer people work in the stores. There is some government compensation for lost income, but it is smaller than our former salaries, and therefore we cannot buy as much as we used to. Sales go down. Stores can’t afford to fill up shelves just for display, therefore stores need fewer employees to shelve what goods are available. The big supply houses have less to do, and therefore need fewer employees—and on and on.

face is concealed, and so there are fewer moments of recognition because faces are always concealed. Aristotle said that “man is a social animal.” Now Aristotle was a very smart man, but he did not live in a society of masks, a society of strangers, a society of avoidance. His view about the ‘social animal’ may no longer apply in a sick, masked world where there are fewer passing acquaintances, fewer friends, fewer heathy people, fewer social contacts. Today Aristotle could only say  “Man would like to be a social animal.” 

Our small town is not there anymore. The seven sins* are always there, lurking behind suspicious masks, but our small town is not there anymore.       

         * Pride, Lust, Envy, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth.