Perhaps for some of us, the pandemic has been a way to hit pause,
to regroup and refine our purpose and our mission.
Ann: Richard? Is there something you would like to say?
Richard: Yes, Ann, I am glad you asked.
I have been thinking about the reemergence of spring and with it the lives that have been put on hold for the past year. Many of us have been composting, some at significant hardship, others with enforced and unwanted isolation, but still others with a relief that comes to us when those tasks and obligations which we have carried for so long are no longer required. And then, we may discover that they no longer fit.
For these latter souls, the retreat required by the pandemic has been a blessed oasis. Perhaps we had heretofore considered spiritual retreat the province of spiritual professionals who seek hermitage as part of an organized spiritual practice. Yet as we are brought in upon ourselves with solitude and reflection, some have found that we have been bleeding at the edges, our life force wearing away almost unnoticed.
For these ones of us, the pandemic has been a way to hit pause, to regroup and refine our purpose and our mission. Perhaps we no longer feel the need to provide those family services which have always been our province. Perhaps they are no longer needed or others can fill in with their own traditions. Perhaps we can winnow out our social obligations so that those which remain will truly fill our souls and the souls with whom we choose to commune with light and meaning.
Perhaps we have found the room to deepen our experiences, to live minute to minute with appreciation and purpose. Perhaps what had been hidden in the flurry of busy days has emerged into the clearing of an uncloudy day. Perhaps we find a smile coming to our faces unexpectedly when gratitude is found in the unexpected corners of every day occurrences.
And then we may find that we have much to give from our awakenings, though not, perhaps, in the common way.
We are lighter, in our footsteps and in our souls, for, in the quietude of the year that carried us from season to season without fanfare, we have forged a bond with Spirit that will carry us safely through the rest of our days.
March 30, 2021