Dear Friends ~ Here in the Northern Hemisphere it is Spring. The earth re-covers herself in the iridescent greens of emerging grasses. Bulbs push their stems to light. Carpets of tiny, illusive flowers herald the season. There are hints of recovery in both local and global news as Covid vaccines become more available. Questions abound: Will our children recover from learning lost? Will lost livelihoods ever be found? Will we ever recover from losing loved ones, over 500,000 in the U.S alone, my 93-year-old mother among them?
NASA images show positive effects for the earth itself during our human slow-down of cars, planes, and manufacturing, but note that these pandemic effects are likely to be fleeting as nations recover and reintroduce business as usual ("Seeing the COVID-19 Pandemic from Space." NASA, Dec. 14, 2020) What can we humans learn about recovery from Mother Earth? How can we as countries turn lessons on recovery into new ways to live and work with one another to protect the earth?
By necessity, the river of recovery will have to overflow its banks. What can we learn of the spiritual journey as we, like the earth, re-cover ourselves time and time again? As we navigate this tricky journey, "May we grow in grace and peace, and not neglect the silence that is printed in the center of our being. It will not fail us." (Thomas Merton from THE HIDDEN GROUND OF LOVE). May it be so. ~ Mary Ann