I don’t have words of prophetic wisdom. I don’t know how to answer the age-old question “Why?. But I do know this: The Love we’ve kept buried in the world we lived in is blossoming in ways I haven’t seen in years!
In the midst of the fears that kept us from saying hello to our neighbors, we have learned the beauty of singing to each other across empty squares.
In the midst the hate that caused us to turn our backs on those who had different political opinions, we are instead offering free meals and delivery to those in need.
In the midst of the chaotic world where we raced from one meeting or demand to another without ever glancing up and noticing what is around us, we’ve been forced to slow down. We can hear the birds song, the children’s laughter, the melodic rain falling on the roof.
In the midst of the isolation brought on not just by orders to shelter in place and not gathering with others, but also by the ways we didn’t even know our neighbor’s name, we are discovering the lost art of an “over the fence hello”. And who knows, maybe – just maybe – that hello will lead to the neighborhoods of our youth where we knew each other, where we watched over each other, where we genuinely cared about those in our community.
In the midst of panic buying and empty store shelves, a young woman is busy spreading fliers with her phone number so that the older generation has someone to talk to. We are building bridges across the generational divide.
In the midst of sickness and death in this Crazy Carona World, as we become more aware of how little control we really have, we are finding ways to live from a place of Love. That’s what really matters.
In the words of Richard Hendrick, A Capuchin Franciscan Brother whose poem “Lockdown” has gone viral:
“Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be a disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.”
Wishing you all peace – in body, mind, and spirit!
