The Bell Tolls For Thee
An original acrylic painting, on canvas
14" X 11" , unframed
( click on image to enlarge )
When was the last time you heard someone say, "Now is the time for all good men to
come to the aid of the country."? And, if you remember, was anyone else paying any
attention to the message, at that time, or was it simply being ignored?
When the heinous 911 attack on our country happened, resulting in the deaths of over
three thousand of our citizens, we were all united in our grief, and in our resolve to
prevent further loss of life. But for the past eighteen months, we have often been
averaging the loss of that many or more, of our fellow countrymen to Covid every day,
and yet so many of us ignore those facts, while proclaiming that the pandemic is not
their problem, and that they have no responsibility to assist in the prevention of the
spread of the deadly virus.
When did we become so divided? Why do so many of us refuse the common-sense
precautions of getting vaccinated and wearing masks? The stubborn resistance to simple
health measures, has now increased to the lunatic level of daily, physical attacks on
public officials and workers who are simply trying to do their jobs, to the best of their
abilities.
In John Donne's famous poem, For Whom The Bell Tolls, he reminds us that no man
is an island, each of us is a part of society as a whole, and we all must bare some social
responsibility in helping to preserve the lives of others. For those who continue to think
only of themselves and their own pleasures, there is the reminder that the bell is tolling
loudly for them as well. It is the death bell, and it is ringing hundreds of times every day.
So, when will it toll for them? Or are they going to start listening?
Eugene P. McNerney
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