Monthly Archives: January 2025

The Earth is Strong

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So the inauguration happened and everything is as horrific as we expected it to be, and on course to keep getting worse. I was feeling very discouraged by it all and brought all my feelings on my walk this morning. But here is the prayer that came into my heart.

Those greedy devils in power are stronger than I am, but they are not stronger than the Earth. As I walk along, I touch the Earth with every step. The Earth is strong, and I am part of the Earth.

Those hateful devils in power are strong, but they are not stronger than the Sun. As I walk along, I feel the warmth and brightness of the Sun reaching my face. The Sun is strong, and I am loved by the Sun.

Those lying devils in power are strong, but they are not stronger than the Wind. As I walk along, I feel the Wind stirring up the tree branches all along my street. The Wind is both strong and gentle, and I am blessed in its movement.

Those cruel devils in power are strong, but they are not stronger than the Spirit. As I walk along, the Spirit whispers in my heart. The Spirit is strong, and I am one with the Spirit no matter what happens.

Tiny and partial

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On the last day of 2024, Margy and I went to Kettle Cove beach. I saw this tiny partial sunbow in the sky, bursts of color hanging on either side of a bright sun. Tiny and partial are the words for today. There is so much suffering in the world, so much violence and evil. I can’t stop the devastation of Gaza, or the cruelty of the Israeli army continuing to kill scores of people even after a ceasefire has just been signed, to take affect on Sunday. Why not stop the killing today? All I can do is bear witness, share posts on Facebook. Tiny and partial.

What can we do to bring good to the world? I think about my visit to my friend at the nursing home yesterday. He was happy to see me–I went to wish him happy birthday and we had a good visit. But immediately afterward I felt a sense of guilt that I can’t visit more often than every months or so. What I can offer him is tiny and partial. But perhaps it is important, especially in the face of large and unrelenting troubles, to honor the tiny and partial acts of goodness we do? And what can he offer now, my old friend, after years of activism and kindness? Perhaps merely to receive with cheerfulness the help he now needs. We each bring goodness in the tiny and partial ways that we are able.

Each morning I take a walk. I have been able to take a little walk most days, after a message a year ago that “walking will be needed.” I have been able, ever so slowly, to increase my walk to about 20 minutes, no longer going directly to the brook and back, but making a little circle around the neighborhood, on my way there. It feeds my spirit, and reminds me to be in love with the earth, the sun, the water, the place where I live. It is a tiny walk as walks go, but by tiny increments, a little more.

Before I walk, I empty and refill the water that we have in a heated tray for the birds. Perhaps that is my tiny gift to the creatures who live here with us on this land. It feels like a prayer each morning. It reminds me of the importance of giving what we are able to this wider community of life. The other day I saw the crows laughing and jostling each other as they perched on the edge and dipped their beaks in.

We are living in very troubled times. Some will be called to wise analysis, and great acts of heroism, and energetically building the systems that honor our deepest values. But all of us, no matter how tiny, must still cling to kindness, cling to our interconnected earth community, and give what we can, no matter how partial. And I hope I remember to celebrate the brightness of the colors revealed in those gifts.