Today we are in the midst … and what I am most present to is that we are the collective we of the entire world. We are each, individually, and we are all, collectively, called to be present to the same thing. We are drawn together by the same challenge even as we are asked to isolate in service of the whole.
I am writing today to share two powerful messages I’ve heard in the last week and to invite you to be discerning about how you are nourishing yourself these days:
What are you listening to?
What are you taking in to your innermost being?
What are you believing? Fearing? Reacting to?
What are you trusting?
How are you responding?
Please, choose wisely.
I share with you this beautiful, powerful, helpful, hopeful message from Brother Richard Hendrick, OFM.
Lockdown
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighborhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
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 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.
Brother Richard Hendrick, OFM
March 13th 2020
Please share this widely! Please add this powerful message to the world around you. Please listen for the sounds of life, open your heart, your soul. Sing.
And, this song, written in a different time and in response to a different challenge. Yet it seems so very relevant now.
I pulled this inspiration card at random recently:
It seems so very relevant to the times we are in. Yes, there are challenges ahead! But, are we responding or reacting? Are we acting bravely or creating drama?
What challenges do you see?
What drama are you feeding?
What new growth are you watering?
What boosts your bravery?
What is your future worth?