I am not much for poetry; limericks are more my style. But we studied T.S. Eliot in English class, and I recall his poem “Ash Wednesday.” It ends: “Suffer me not to be separated. And let my cry come unto Thee.” Isn’t that prayer all too appropriate today?

That’s exactly what we are: separated. From family, from friends, from work, from school, from income, from entertainment, from church, from a sense of being meaningful in this world, even from God Himself. Human beings are social creatures. We need one another, even if people get on our nerves from time to time.

President Biden, Dr Fauci, state governors: Enough is enough. Please, don’t force us to be separated any longer. No one can predict what irreversible harm may result.