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Grant us peace graciously ”, wrote Martin Luther almost 500 years ago.
“Stay strong and confident.
I also try to be, "said Anita Schedel, the wife of the Passau doctor Hannes Schedel, who died of Corona, at the end of her short address at the Berlin memorial service for the victims of the pandemic.
It is over and so is the service there with the highest-ranking representatives of the Federal Republic.
The many memorial services throughout Germany are over.
The plague is still there. The dispute over how to deal with her continues. In his speech, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hoped that the pandemic, "which already forces us to distance us as humans, will not also drive us apart as a society"! He also talked about humility in the face of the unavailable and asked not to get lost in pointing the blame, but rather to gather “strength for the way forward”.
That is now easier said than done when people accept all restrictions and some then get the impression that politics, for their part, is getting bogged down and dispersed.
It's the feeling of being let down.
Steinmeier responded to this.
Of course, the state has shown a compassionate face with the Corona aid and at the same time a merciless face with the ban on visits to old people's homes and the strict ban on contact with the dying.
Of course, this is also a country that does not simply resign itself to fate, but seeks better ways.
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Fortunately, it is also a country where such memorial days are possible. Nine years ago, at the same location in Berlin, the act of mourning for the ten victims of the NSU terror took place, which truly included grief and shame over a real failure of the state. Corona cannot be equated with this. The finding that many things could have gone better with Corona is preliminary. But this state does not shy away from doubts as to whether it has made mistakes. It's different in China.
Still, said Anita Schedel, so many people die of Corona in Germany as if an airplane crashed every day.
Yes, that sometimes gets out of sight because of the natural urge for freedom and joie de vivre.
There are still the unpredictable at Corona.
People still feel what Luther's sentence means: "There is no one else who could fight for us, because you, our God, alone" - whether you are a nurse, Chancellor or family member.
The occasion for such humility is not limited to an April Sunday.
Beds are becoming scarcer in the intensive care units
With the corona infections, the occupancy of the hospitals is also increasing.
The situation will only worsen over the next few weeks.
Bottlenecks threaten in the intensive care units.
Operations that are not necessary will be postponed again.
Source: WELT / Jan-Friedrich Funk