"A Song" 1892
Donation to Smithsonian Design Museum by Cooper Hewitt
Together, the people of the world are facing a common foe...covid-19.
One of the strategies for combating this foe is isolating ourselves from one another.
For many of us, isolation is almost as scary as the thought of having the disease that is causing so much fear, anxiety and loss.
During times like this, it is good to remember we are not alone and that we are stronger than many of us know. Alchemy teaches us that the antidote for Fear (Saturn) is Confidence (Sun) and Love (Venus). While we are social distancing and moving toward isolation, this behavior and energy presents an opportunity to bring the world together out of Love of Life and one another by doing the right thing to protect one another and by reaching out safely to those in need.
Many of us are finding solace in a poem by Richard Hendrick, a Capuchin Franciscan in Ireland. This might be a perfect time to share the love and care represented in this poem as a way of helping us know, We are in this Together!
Lockdown
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
— March 13th 2020, Richard Hendrick
May we all use this moment in time to Contribute Our Utmost to Universal Welfare!
