Hold on to anything you need

Well, it's 12 weeks since I got back from Arizona and I put myself in isolation, just to be on the safe side. 12 long weeks of solitude and living in a tiny square of space, where before this, I felt like there was no where I could not go.

And now, when I look at where we've arrived, it seems like a clash of incongruities. Death, suffering, corruption, and willful ignorance from the top to the bottom of our society, stretching out in all directions.

And at the same time, I've watched the snow melt away and the greenery of spring gush from the once bare trees in my yard. Death and chaos all around, but here in my little corner of the world, new life awakens and flourishes, as it has done like clockwork for 52 springs.

It almost doesn't seem possible that both realities can sit side-by-side. And yet, the beauty of life abounds and it will not be denied.

The fear bombards us from all sides. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the untrue. Fear of what we don't know. The fear is a wildfire that tears through our society, turning us against each other and away from those we have never met or would ever want to meet. And that wildfire is tempering our hearts, hardening them, making us forget who we are or who we aspire to be, as if there is no room left for such dreams.

I'm here to tell you that there is room for these dreams, but you need to hold on. Hold on to your true selves, hold on to hope, hold on to your compassion most of all. Those dreams, those selves, and all that pent up compassion is going to carry us through this.

Everyone is hurting, and if that is all we have left, then let it be enough to form that common ground on which we can gather as family, as brothers and sisters, as fathers and mothers, as friends and lovers, and even those people we don't really know or that we fear.

If you feel yourself slipping away, just connect to the abundance that is springing up around us. Just ... hold on. We need you.

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