These are turbulent times. No one left untouched by the circumstances of both Nature and Man, the two often converging to create outcomes unthinkable.
Some days, we are running selflessly into fires and floods to pluck our neighbors from certain death. Others, standing at the fence between us, arms crossed, stubbornly believing that all would be well if they would simply get their act together.
We are, some of us disheartened by these circumstances, the rift that has appeared, threatening to mar the beauty of Common Ground. Standing in disbelief, unable to comprehend those who are content to place a crowbar smack in the center of that fault line, wrench it open until Earth and humanity are irreparably damaged.
It is mostly certainly a time for action. A time for us to lean into the confusion and pain that threaten to swallow us whole.
But this is not action that has to do with upping the ante or throwing ourselves headlong into the enormity of all that we face.
Rather, we are being called to fiercely tend the day-to-day conditions that we alone have the power to alter in a tangible, meaningful way.
Your children, your community, your mind, your work, your intentions.
All of these things are within reach, elements of the greater fabric that you can hold in the palm of your hand, carefully shape and re-shape with a careful, kind touch.
Yes, certainly you may discover strains of friction and doubt firmly planted amidst these matters, cracks that must be mended before they get out of hand. But do not dismiss them as unimportant, small tremors that you can turn away from while you attempt to survive the swirl of all that is bigger than you.
For these fissures lead to the larger chasm that has developed. Tributaries leading to an ocean.
Only you can choose to hand the man on the corner a loaf of fresh bread. Remind your children to be kind to others. Turn away from words and gestures that insinuate war. Reign in emotions of hatred, disgust, intolerance, and greed that threaten all good deeds.
It is time to step into this turbulence with your steady nature.
Trust that your commitment to goodness and discernment will heal this gaping wound, bring us back to a place of equilibrium that allows our differences to knit us together, rather than tear us apart.
