From the desk of Teresa Jordan – I watched to a great webinar this week that drove home for me some of the great challenges that we are experiencing. The difficulty of a pandemic – and the resulting emergency measures that take us all the way back to the great wars – is that in this time of trouble we are being asked to distance. We are being asked to not stand side-by-side, to not band together, to not gather to pray … and to not come together to gather the courage collectively to soldier on.
I was reminded again how significant it is that we are living in these times. And while many say this will forever change the landscape what I know for sure is that it will forever change us – those who are living it. We can rise to the challenge and not faint, we can gather strength together while apart. I have seen countless examples of care and concern, and I know that there will come a day that we do gather and celebrate all that we survived during this time.
In my isolation at home I have been, every day, going on long walks through the woodsy swamp land in which I live. I am amazed in the quiet reflection of these walks, of how I am noticing changes each day. The snow and ice melt a little more, the water in the river rises and falls, the swamp grass is starting to green and the red wing black birds are quite obnoxious when they all decide that I am the intruder.
What I notice for sure, given that I am prone to this kind of observation, is that what I am noting is all that would be happening in any spring in the swamp. The beavers and birds did not get any memos about the pandemic, and they are simply going about the business of living and getting ready for the warmer seasons. The ebb and flow of nature is still keeping up its usual pace.
So what is all of this to us? A calmness, a focal point beyond the noise and perhaps a reminder that while we are in the middle of global crisis and there is much to attend to, there is also the rhythm of the seasons to reassure us that while so much has changed so fast, there is beauty all around just the same.
- Photo by photokip.com on Pexels.com
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