COVID Upheaval, Fear, and the Temptation of Idolatry
Part 1 of a 4-Part Series: Spiritual Dimensions of the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Mark Kutolowski
AUDIO version of this post and CONVERSATION is available on our website.
This post is the first of a 3-part series on the spiritual dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this essay, I’ll look at the pandemic’s relationship to fear and the life of the spirit. My hope in writing is not to give any fixed answers, but to encourage each of us to remain connected to Divine Love, and to continue to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God.’ With prayer and conscious action, it is possible not only to remain spiritually awake, but to grow in faith, hope, and love in this time. So let us follow Jesus’ advice to stay awake, be vigilant, and keep our hearts open to the infinite love and healing power of God. I invite you to pray alongside me, as we seek truth together.
Fear and the Levels of Mind
There has been much physical suffering during the past year and a half due to the pandemic. COVID-19 is a real disease, with real human suffering and tragedy. Yet, I believe there has been a second ‘pandemic,’ far more pervasive than the loss of life and health from COVID. This ‘pandemic’ is the rise of fear.[1]
The public health response has been a recipe for an enormous surge in fear in the United States.[2] We were told by public health officials that there is a deadly virus, that it is invisible, that it is incredibly contagious, and that asymptomatic people can spread it. This meant that any person you might meet was a potential threat, and you also were to them. Many of us took that in deeply – anyone I meet might kill me. Or I might kill them. We have no way to know. How terrifying!
The logic continued—the threat of disease is so serious that we need to stop the functioning of society and limit all social interaction for an unknown period of time to limit its spread. I believe the public health measures of lockdown, and later social distancing and masking, and finally mass vaccination, have all been well intentioned and possibly warranted given the information available to health experts at the time. Yet they have also had the effect of placing many people in a state of heightened vigilance and fear for their own health and the health of their loved ones and community. There’s a pervasive sense of threat and terror unlike anything felt in our generation.[3]
This played out differently in different regions of the US. Where we live in Vermont, ‘social distancing’ was basically our normal cultural behavior before the pandemic, and our population took the pandemic restrictions very seriously. In other parts of the country, informal social gatherings continued. Yet as a whole, our country experienced a dramatic decrease of face-to-face social interaction, a dramatic increase in screen time, and an enormous increase in fear. Outside of the Northeast, most notably significant parts of the rural West and South, fear of COVID was overridden by rejection of the official narrative. This rejection was accompanied by a second, equally intense fear – a fear of government overreach and conspiracy by the powers that be (including government, media, and biotech companies) to threaten our way of life.
While I don’t know of any statistics able to directly address the level of fear in the US, the American Psychiatric Association reported in May 2020 that ‘We are facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.’ Perhaps most troubling is the report that 2 in 5 Americans are now struggling with mental health, compared to a baseline of 1 in 5 from before 2019. That is an increase of 66 million people, or roughly 90 new mental health cases for each reported COVID death. This is an incredibly significant number, and an immense challenge for the spiritual as well as psychological well-being of our nation.
As people following the Way of Christ, how are we to respond? I believe one possible answer lies in understanding the levels of mind. There are three distinct levels of mind out of which we may be living from at any given time.[4] These are the ‘primitive mind/survival mind,’ the ‘rational mind’and the ‘spiritual mind/Mind of Christ.’ When we understand the operation of these three levels of mind, we can begin to track our own responses to the stress of the pandemic, and begin to make the conscious choice to live from a place of inner freedom.
The Primitive Mind
The ‘primitive mind’ is the level of thought that essentially emerges from the survival instinct of the body. The central concern of this level of mind is the survival of the individual organism. It evaluates the world dualistically, scrutinizing everything that comes into its awareness as either ‘good, safe, and pleasurable’ or ‘bad, dangerous, and painful.’
When we experience the emotion of fear, the primitive mind leaps into action and seeks to inform us of what we need to do to stay safe. However, the primitive mind can only divide the world into the very simple good/bad or safe/unsafe categories. It is entirely incapable of discerning the complex nuances of our contemporary world. In fear, primitive mind runs the show, and then recruits the rational mind into its service. The spiritual mind goes dormant, inaccessible by the primary consciousness of the fearful person.
Self-awareness is a key to gaining interior freedom. How do we know when we are operating from the primitive mind? I believe this state of mind has several common characteristics: In the body, fear manifests as tension, often accompanied by increases in blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate, as well as stiffness or ‘jerkiness’ in movement. In the emotions, the primitive mind manifests through a lack of freedom. This can be expressed through the domination of charged emotions, including but not limited to fear, anger, and elation.
Paradoxically, there can also be a sense of being cut-off or ‘dissociated’ from emotions, often accompanied with a sort of pseudo-rationality. Someone operating from the primitive mind may sound rational, but when they are in this state their body will tend to be stiff and there is an accompanying inability to give space for other perspectives on the mental level. The need for absolute certainty and the rejection of simply hearing ideas that might challenge one’s viewpoint are attributes of the primitive mind.
Another aspect of the primitive mind is that it can, and frequently does, extend itself onto one’s social group. One’s group could be a family, a town, a political party, a religion, an affinity group, or a country. In this fearful state, anything perceived as beneficial for one’s group is considered an ultimate good, and anything perceived as a threat to one’s group is considered an ultimate evil. One of the identifying features of this ‘collective primitive mind’ is the inability of members of one group to perceive the humanity of those they have othered. We see the disastrous effects of this ‘us’ versus ‘them’ thinking throughout history – the bitter fruit of this level of consciousness manifests fully in war, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and systematic oppression.
The Rational Mind
The rational mind is the level of reason. It is the level where we are able to critically observe the world around us, taking in facts, data, and observation, and then interpreting this information to come up with the most functional response. It is the realm of logic, and of an interest in discovering objective truth. The scientific method relies upon the use of this level of mind, as do other aspects of academic inquiry.
When we’re living from the rational mind, we’re able to notice the emotions, attractions, and aversions of the primitive mind, but these simply become new data points for us to use in making a rational decision. We might be terrified of snakes, for example, but can use our rational mind to understand that there are no poisonous snakes in our area and then choose to go for a walk in the woods anyway.
One of the fascinating aspects of being human is that our rational mind is almost always active. However, it is not always acting from its own level – it can be ‘hijacked’ by the primitive mind to provide support for its goal of keeping us safe. This is what is known as ‘rationalization’ – the rational mind is used to support an agenda that arises from the emotionally charged attractions or aversions of the primitive mind. Much of what is presented as rational in both mass media and on social media is actually rationalization. When you know what to look for, it’s easy to detect – hardened opinions and charged emotions supposedly ‘backed up’ by statistics and ‘scientific’ proof that the opinion is right.
How can we recognize the difference between the rational mind and rationalization? Rational thinking is characterized by a certain degree of freshness, calm, and curiosity. It is genuinely interested in objective truth. It is not emotionally threatened by opposing ideas. In contrast, rationalization tends to demand that it is right, see opposing ideas as a threat, and be characterized by emotional contraction or compulsion. It is characterized, in short, by the qualities of the primitive mind described above.
The sciences are not immune from rationalization, especially in a cultural background of pervasive fear. Even in the sciences, immense energy may be invested in defending beliefs simply because they are ‘ours.’ Science faces an intrinsic, ongoing challenge in that true science must be conducted from the rational mind, yet all scientists are human beings who are not immune from thinking from the primitive mind. Each field of science is in need of continual self-reflection and self-criticism, lest objective inquiry give way to rationalization and defensiveness.
Spiritual Mind/Mind of Christ
The highest level of mind in this simple three-part framework is the spiritual mind. This is the level of mind that is united with Divinity. When we enter into this level of mind, we experience peace, stillness, and freedom that are beyond what can be known from the primitive or the rational minds. Access to this level of mind is typically not attainable by effort – we can’t will or think our way into the spiritual mind. However, prayer and meditation can prepare our hearts for this level of perception.
The spiritual mind is beyond the limits of both space and time. When we are living in, or from, this level of mind, we experience life in a boundless, eternal present. We experience a sense of connection with all places and all people – a subtle but very real sense of kinship with all life. Because of this perception, we receive two immeasurable gifts – freedom from fear and the capacity for unconditional love.
Freedom from fear arises because when we participate in a felt sense of eternity, we no longer fear the death of our body, or the end of any particular aspect of life that we may cherish. We intuitively know that all things are passing, and only God remains forever.
Unconditional love flows forth from the spiritual mind, as we see and experience the unity of all life in God. We become able to love our neighbor as ourselves, as we on some level experience our neighbor as ourselves.
When we tap into the field of universal love, we not only love our neighbor, but also our enemy. The ability to love our enemies goes deeper than loving our neighbors. Its source is the radical forgiveness that overflows from the heart of Christ. We can, as Jesus said, ‘be like our heavenly Father, who makes his sun shine on good and bad alike’ – and we can do this precisely because the spiritual mind shares in the same unconditional love that God has for all people, and all beings.
Fear and Idols of the Ego
How do the levels of mind relate to our current situation in the pandemic? Ours is a time of massive upheaval. We have almost all had our sense of outward security threatened. When this happens, it is a natural impulse to feel fear and contract. If we are able to stay present, and to experience the emotion of fear without identifying with fear, we can choose to operate from the rational mind and remain open to the insights of the spiritual mind. However, if we are overcome with the fear, we are faced with two stark potential outcomes.
First, we can be swept fully into the fear without an awareness of God or a sense of being safe or loved. When this happens, chaos quickly ensues, as the fear is more than our fragile egoic psyche can handle for very long. A descent into psychosis is a real possibility. Again, I am reminded of the sharp rise in mental health issues, drug overdoses and suicide in our society.
However, most people won’t choose to stay in chaos and raw fear for very long. Typically, we respond to rising fear through egoic control, where the primitive mind identifies some aspect of the external world as the threat. The primitive mind then develops a system of control to neutralize the threat. It always has a sort of ‘if/then’ proposition. If I do this, or avoid this, or believe this, then I will be safe and protected from the threat. Once the threat has been identified and (supposedly) neutralized by the protective behavior, the ego can relax and the fear put to rest – but only in so much as we maintain the action, avoidance, or belief that is keeping us safe according to the logic of the primitive mind. As this happens, the rational mind is readily recruited by the primitive mind to provide all sorts of evidence for why we are right, and why any opposing viewpoints are wrong.
The terrible tragedy of this contraction into fear is that we inevitably create idols in our minds. An idol is any finite thing that we attribute with ultimate good and value. Any time the primitive mind says ‘you must do/act/think’ this way in order to be safe, or happy, or at peace[5]– we have set up an idol. Idols of the mind seek to protect us, but end up enslaving us. Idols of the mind, of course, demand sacrifice – they demand we give up our full human capacities of love and understanding to serve their own dualistic demands.
As the stress and fear of this time of unraveling continues, we see this condition playing out in real time in our country. Shortly before the 2020 election, I read with horror that, when surveyed one in five Republicans responded that the world would be better off if all members of the opposing party simply died. My horror only increased when I read that one in four democrats responded the same way! When my side, or my people, or my beliefs, become an ultimate good, the opposing side becomes an ultimate evil. Hatred grows, and violence of the heart has begun.
Fear and COVID Polarization
I now see similar dynamics playing out in relationship with COVID, with two polarized camps characterized by mutual hostility. I’m referring to those who are in support of lockdowns, masks, social distancing, and vaccines, versus those who are skeptical of these responses to the pandemic.[6] Of course, there are many people who don’t fit neatly in either category, or who have a more nuanced perspective. But as it relates to our discussion of fear and the levels of mind, I see a tremendous consolidation of fear, rationalization, and the ‘idols’ of the primitive mind in the controversy around the COVID response. The current environment has become so polarized that even to write that this is an area of controversy is seen as offensive to the ‘true believers’ in either camp.
For the collective, this makes rational inquiry into the facts and statistics around COVID very difficult. Not only are the camps looking with different sets of values and interpretive lenses, there are now copious sets of ‘facts’ that can be cited by each stance to support their view.[7] Constructive public dialogue about the costs and benefits of the various interventions is almost impossible, with so many of the people involved needing to defend their egoic safety at the level of the primitive mind. Emotionally charged proclamations and rationalisms flourish. The conditions necessary for a rational discussion—where all parties come in with open minds, are willing to change their stance based on new information, and are more interested in objective truth than in ‘winning’—are nowhere to be found.
Staying Vigilant
For us as individuals, it can be difficult to avoid getting swept into thinking and acting from the dictates of our primitive mind and joining in the collective thought of our various social groups. For me, living in Vermont, the dominant narrative is strongly pro-intervention. Some of my friends and colleagues in the deep South have shared how the anti-intervention narrative is similarly strong there. In either case, it seems that many get swept up in the dominant narrative – or possibly get swept up in the minority counter-narrative (where one’s identity is defined by the act of opposition). Even if one began with a rational inquiry into the most ethical response to the pandemic, it’s easy for one’s conclusion to harden into a rigid, defensive posture that is conspiring with the primitive mind to keep one safe.
For the purposes of this post, I’m not concerned with which side is right or wrong. I personally believe there is a great deal more nuance around these complex issues than can easily fit into any dualistic category. My concern in writing this article is to try and help people to become aware of the tendencies and patterns of the three levels of mind, and in doing so to gain conscious awareness when we are stuck in fear and the thinking of the primitive mind.[8] One can be in favor of vaccines and masks, and do so from the motivations of the primitive mind, the rational mind, or the spiritual mind. Likewise, one can be in favor of natural immunity and open faces from the motivations of the primitive mind, the rational mind, or the spiritual mind. Spiritually, one’s outward position on this issue is perhaps less important than the motivating energies from which it comes. These motivating energies can shift, even when our ‘position’ remains the same. We all are prone to operating from fear and the primitive mind at times. The point is to stay aware, to remain in humble acceptance of our capacity to operate from the primitive mind, and to pray and continue to seek God and the way of love at all times.
So, my invitation to each of us is to be spiritually vigilant. Whatever our beliefs might be, let us observe carefully the energies at work in our hearts. Do our hearts remain open to love? Do our minds have space for information that might contradict our narratives, or our groups’ narratives? Can we stay connected to God’s infinite, tender love of every human being involved in this pandemic, and pray for their well-being no matter who they are and what they think? These, I propose, are the essential questions for Christ-followers to ask themselves to navigate the ongoing pandemic in a spirit of faith, hope, and love.
At our homestead, there are several tools I’ve found helpful to staying open to God and the spiritual and rational minds in this time of cultural contraction. The first is remaining faithful to our daily prayer discipline. This keeps us open to God’s silent presence, as well as exposed to the writings and teachings of the wider Christian tradition that directs our hearts towards God.
Another essential practice has been moderating our engagement with media. When I get too caught up in reading or listening to media, no matter how high its quality, my heart can become clouded and I find it harder to practice unconditional love.
Finally, we’ve found it essential to regularly mourn and weep with the suffering of the world, and to seek to forgive all people without exception. It’s so easy for me to slip into trying to fix and offer solutions (even in writing this article!), and when I do, my heart closes. When I weep and mourn with com-passion (‘suffering with’), my heart remains open.
In the next post, I’ll explore the effects of the pandemic on our souls – both on how we make meaning and how we love and are in relationship with one another.
[1]Interestingly, the root meaning of the word pandemic is ‘all the people’ (pan/all+ demos/people). While not all people have had COVID, I wager that all the people connected to the modern world have felt some fear stemming from COVID and/or the public responses to COVID. Literally speaking, fear rather than COVID is the true pan-demos.
[2]Much of what I write here surely applies to other countries, but I’m going to try to largely limit my observations to the USA, where I have experienced the pandemic firsthand.
[3]The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks did somewhat puncture the American sense of invincibility, yet the accompanying fear of terrorist violence was nowhere near the intensity of fear of COVID.
[4]I’m presenting a simplified model here – of course there are more than three levels. I believe this distinction is accurate, though not covering the full complexity of the human person.
[5]We might ask, ‘whose safety, peace, or happiness is at risk?’ Neither the rational or the spiritual mind are prone to this type of fear. It’s the primitive mind that feels threatened.
[6]To be more abstract, we could describe this as the philosophical tension between central mandates in service of public health/the common good vs. the rights of individuals and bodily autonomy
[7]And yes, one side thinks you’re an idiot for trusting the government and biotech data, and the other side thinks you’re an idiot for believing any data that departs from the official reports.
[8]A second gift of the perspective outlined here is that it can help us to see others with love. We can begin to recognize what level of mind others are coming from, and have compassion on them when they are caught up in fear and identifying with the demands of the primitive mind.