Kenosis

Kenosis, from the Greek kenoein, refers in some Western traditions to self-emptying … a diminution of self allowing greater receptivity to higher truths. The pandemic, in emptying our cities of the people who used to inhabit them, has allowed us to look at the familiar with fresh eyes and ponder certain fundamental questions. Is the earth herself undertaking a form of kenosis, expunging that which is toxic? Or do we see a world that, having been granted respite from the press of crowds, is now in a state of convalescence and healing? The public spaces that were once unobtrusive settings for human activity now shimmer with glimpses of insight into the way we used to live.