(Minghui.org) The days leading up to the Chinese New Year used to be among the busiest times of the year. This year, however, news of the Wuhan city coronavirus epidemic, Wuhan being thousands of miles away from where we live, was suddenly announced. We were told that the city was sealed, with no one being allowed to leave or enter.
Before we knew it, the company’s WeChat group sent a string of notices requesting everyone to report their “health,” and people were not being allowed to visit during the 2020 New Year. Another demand was that everyone was to provide information about their actions, such as when entering or leaving the city.
The district where we live subsequently closed three out of its five exits and asked that people check for signs of fever. Group chats with classmates and friends were mostly flooded with news about the “Wuhan coronavirus.” All normal everyday activities came to a sudden halt, and it seemed that we were restricted to our homes. Masks were in high demand, but there was an insufficient supply for everyone.
We were shocked, as the news of the outbreak was so sudden. There was no news a short time ago, and now suddenly everything was coming to a halt during the busy new year preparations. As time slowly passed, anxiety crept into people’s hearts, and they were starting to become fearful, as though the air was filled with the virus and could not be escaped, as everyone needed to breathe. There is no longer any talk by people, no matter what societal status, about not being affected by the outbreak.
Guests who were supposed to come on the eve of the New Year did not come. The gatherings that were to take place were all canceled. Although Wuhan is thousands of miles away from us, we could feel fear in the silence.
At the same time, we also waited anxiously for the 8 o’clock Shen Yun New Year’s Eve performance, as though we were going on a pilgrimage. Amidst the anxiety and fear among people, we watched the Shen Yun performance and understood that everything is under Master's control.
Confronted with the epidemic, everything that people were proud about suddenly became worthless. They looked towards the heavens and prayed to the mysterious and inexorable world of the higher beings and gods to whom they had been disrespectful. It is only at the moment of desperation that sentient beings start to face themselves.
On one side, the government is trying to “refute rumors” (in fact, it is spreading rumors) while on the other side, everyone is trying to collect all sorts of protection amulets. Storing food and masks, but masks, being a “necessity,” are not available in such a glamorous and well-developed city. As such, we can imagine how much fear is enveloping the Wuhan folks, as things will be much worse for them, and everyone was caught off-guard.
We, as a family of Falun Dafa practitioners, were also caught off-guard by the sudden outbreak and did not know what to do. But after recalling the past, we calmed down. We have already gone through numerous life and death tests. At this time, the thought that we could use this situation to save people entered our minds. This is the instruction from Master, but how are we going to do that?
This is an opportune time to send out the message “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” to people as encouragement.
Everyone is forced to stay at home, so the busy streets have become empty, while public buses are driving around without passengers. Corridors are full of the smell of disinfectants. Living in such an environment made us feel as though the world was soon coming to an end. Since we are here to save sentient beings, we should send out the Dafa peace and safety message to the calm peoples’ hearts.
As such, our child, who has just entered a university, started to send new year greetings over the phone and WeChat to all our relatives and friends, urgently and sincerely telling them to remember the message “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness- Compassion-Forbearance is good,” so that they can maintain peace of mind and safety, as this message comes from a Dafa of mighty virtue.
People who used to start quarrels just at the mention of the word Dafa, are starting to listen to what we are saying amidst the anxiety and fear. People who did not allow us to talk about quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations are also starting to relent. We are able to hear their heartfelt thanks for telling them such news during this time of outbreak. They understand that they can rely on what they hear, because the message comes from Dafa practitioners.
I also believe that the Domestic Security police officers who may have heard these messages over their phones will be too busy worrying about their own safety. Thus, they will not be thinking about arresting innocent people, but rather how to save themselves and their families. The outbreak has also stopped them from coming out and committing evil deeds. At this moment, remaining alive is the most important concern of the people.
As everyone is worried about their own lives, most people stay at home, and the shops along the usual vibrant and busy streets are tightly shut. Even the pharmacies, which are open, have tables spanning their doorways so people can’t enter, and only talk from some distance away. Only a few individuals came out for a walk, or to replenish their daily necessities.
Distributing truth-clarifying materials has become very safe. As long as we avoided the surveillance cameras, there was almost no need to worry about the eyes that used to look out from the shops.
Distributing truth-clarifying materials and pasting truth-clarifying posters has become much safer. People are finally coming to a stop from their busy lives, and the long period of staying at home has caused people to feel subdued and tired. Therefore, when they take a walk along the empty streets and look at the truth-clarifying materials, they may have a different understanding of these materials, perhaps as though they are seeing them for the first time.
The truth-clarifying materials that I have chosen to use are more objective regarding content, mainly targeting the current outbreak. As people are judiciously keeping an eye out for such news, they are downloading the articles “17 Years after SARS, the CCP Continues to Cover Up Information about the New Deadly Coronavirus Epidemic,” “My Pneumonia-like Symptoms Disappeared after Reciting “Falun Dafa is Good,” and “Remember that Falun Dafa is Good Amidst the Outbreak.”
After later communicating with the practitioners at home, we all felt that the “Remember that Falun Dafa is Good Amidst the Outbreak” article has a good title, but the examples cited in it are not truly relevant, as they are mainly about the tsunami, and earthquake incidents. People might feel that this has nothing to do with the present virus outbreak.
But the other two articles address this epidemic, so people can likely relate to them better, as people are afraid of the outbreak at this time. We therefore printed these articles on double-page-sized paper, enlarged the words, folded them in half, and started to distribute them. These articles will hopefully directly affect peoples’ hearts.
The same goes for the truth-clarifying signs and posters. We chose eye-catching and beautiful ones to post. Although very few people come out of their homes, they will still need to come out for necessities. Therefore, when they see the posters during this time, they may experience a totally new feeling. Instead of looking at them holding onto their past opinions, they may look at them with the latest calamity in mind.
During this time when schools have delayed the start of the new semester, and white and blue-collar workers still don’t know when they can return to work, people are finally calming their busy quests for fame, glory, and self-benefit. They are finally able to think about their own life and death matters.
We therefore hope that fellow practitioners can produce small booklets or cards to be hung on trees (as there is no one out on the streets now), and write about things in relation to the current outbreak.
We suggest that practitioners use natural phenomena, and use it as an opportunity for saving sentient beings.