Quiet, simple Earth Day celebrations bring me healing today. Yesterday was a rough day. It was Easter, a day to celebrate renewal. But before going to sleep the night before, I learned of the Easter morning attacks in Sri Lanka. I went to be part of the Easter Sunday Service with my spiritual community, but I had still not received definitive word about my family in Sri Lanka. The morning news showed a much higher death toll from the bombs that had exploded across the island where I lived for many years. Someone had targeted churches and hotels -- hotels where I had spent time myself, or where my family had recently stayed. Finally, mid-service, I received a response to my query, "Everybody OK?". "Physically yes..." my cousin began. "So devastated to feel that all too familiar feeling of being in a state of emergency." Relief, and then sadness, washed over me, as my heart searched for understanding. We can't experience resurrection and renewal until we've gone through surrection (upheaval) and destruction.
I notice that churches and mosques and temples are being destroyed around the world, by accident or intent, and I wonder if it's time to move our worship outside. To remove the walls and the barriers and connect with each other and our common home.
So today on Earth Day, I tend to LIFE. I give thanks for the wisdom and beauty of the nature's cycles and processes, and remember that it's not all sunshine and rainbows. That though some leave us in death, those of us that remain must do the best we can and savor every moment of sunshine, every flower, every tear that falls to the ground, every bird and bee and leaf and furry friend. If we're all focused on love and life, there's no space for anything less noble.
Images borrowed from e-motivation.net, and We Are the Media on Facebook @WeAretheMedia2016
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