a civilization of love

This week has been yet another rife with unrest, which I certainly don’t need to review tonight. But, I will ask, as I often do, for you to step away from the drama in Washington or the horror splattered across your screens or whatever is churning you away from finding some peace. As I write this, I am aware of my privilege to walk away. I can look out my window and easily find solace in a blue forgiving sky. Perhaps, you too can take a break for a moment. Time it if you must. But long enough to breathe.

If you are a Catholic, then perhaps, during this Holy Week you have read Pope Leo XIV’s directive. “Leading up to Easter, the Pope’s Lenten message encouraged listening to the cries of the suffering, using “disarmed” language, and building a “civilization of love” (Winnipeg Free Press).

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Earth Day

Easter tables all over the Northeast held brilliant bouquets pronouncing the return of Spring. Ours was picked with care and brought much delight to all who circled around. Truly, an easy delight for any and all after months of a black and white landscape. Today there is yellow and orange, pink and red and all those in between hues of daffodil, tulip and ranunculus in every stage of bloom. Today is the start of a world overcome by this joyous return.

Every year on April 22, Earth Day is celebrated by 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. It marks the anniversary of the beginning of the modern environmental movement that started in 1970, but is also a day to show support for the Earth and raise awareness of environmental issues,” says Google. As I stroll through gardens bursting with Spring it seems the least we can do is support this beautiful planet that has given us so very much, our every nourishment in fact. Today I am drinking in all those rich gifts.

Is there anything more spectacular than finding purple and green where yesterday there was only brown and gray? I find myself drawn like a bee just going from flower to flower to nourish me after this long winter. Eye candy. Sweet delight. All for free to gaze.

#investinourplanet is the Earth Day 2022 theme. How simple to hashtag a concept, yet so difficult to shift a world bent on destruction. Today I focus on all the easy beauty. So very grateful that it is indeed as easy as blooms on the trees and along the garden paths. How fortunate we have been for so many decades, millenniums even. Perhaps not so for those who will come after us, but for this day, with the blue sky, the fat robin hopping along the lawn, and the buzz of the bee chasing down each bloom, I will rejoice on this Earth Day.

And take in all She has gifted us. What a treasure to watch each April, life resurfacing like a goddess from the Underworld, this Persephone made visible, this hope realized once more.

 

O joy!

Although there is little evidence in the still bare trees and brown fields, life is indeed returning. One can sense it in the morning light, longer afternoons, and the warmth of the sunshine; best yet, birds have returned north to fill our gardens with their music. Seemingly slow coming, but small signs appear each day and I am soaking it all in. O joy! Happy Spring to All!!