an inauguration

We have a new administration, and this country’s first woman vice-president.

I don’t think everything is suddenly going to be roses and rainbows, nor do I think politicians are saviors, but it does make a difference who holds office in this country.

It makes an enormous difference in people’s lives.

Both sides are not “the same,” and the past four years in this country have been brutal.

The mass death due to Covid, the lack of leadership, the hatefulness, the lies - it has been intense - and the result of this trauma will begin showing up now more and more in the physical, in our bodies.

This week has been a rough one for me.

I did not realize how damaging it was to have the president of this country fail to acknowledge the pain and grief of this pandemic until this week, when the president of this country did acknowledge it.

I know that this is a time of excitement, energy and evolution for our society. I also know there is a long agenda of important tasks that need to be done. Among those tasks, I would like to lift up the Earth for special consideration. We need a renewed commitment to climate change, animal rights, and human sustainability. One part of that commitment is science and the other is spirituality. Science for the physical preservation of our biosphere and spirituality for the preservation of Earth’s soul as a living being. Now is a rare opportunity for our religious leaders to take the initiative in a global spiritual movement built on a reverence for the Earth. However we pray, we are all advocates for the same vision: the vision of the Earth as our Mother. This is the century for faith leaders to speak with one voice for the restoration of the Earth. It is an historic tipping point for people of faith around the world. We have many worthwhile agendas, but none is more vital than rescuing our Mother before it is too late. - Steven Charleston

Right now, I can hear wind chimes, one of the best sounds in the world.

The truth is, I want to feel more relieved right now than I actually feel.

I am, of course, relieved that the transition of power happened, relieved that President Biden got to work right away.

I was deeply relieved to see images of him holding a grandbaby - being a kind, compassionate human- and relieved to hear Dr. Fauci speak the truth without fear of retaliation.

But this is a heavy and precarious moment, and my anxieties are not going to rest just yet.

If you, too, feel this way, I urge you to be easy with yourself and one another.

Allow yourself breath and water and rest.

Offer yourself forgiveness and mercy.

By all means, look for the love - in our world, in your home, in your own heart, in one another’s eyes.

I hope you have a peaceful weekend.