The following was shared on Easter … it does not matter if you are Christian or Buddhist or Atheist or Martian & so I re-share to serve as a reminder as we begin this week, Shelter @ Home, Week #5:

Prayer for a Pandemic

May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God* to our neighbors.
Amen.

-Cameron Bellm, Sisters of Charity

*If you are agnostic or atheist, then “God” as in greater Powers beyond ourselves and any rational, beyond the human comprehension. Powers and mysteries – that pure consciousness – that provides salvation when there’s love and compassion and intuitive wisdom rather than hate, fears and ignorance. If that makes any senses…

***

When you cannot hug a person … Call a family member or a friend; Beyond the remoteness, Hug a tree; marvel at the beauty of blooming trees all around us. Imagined in a dream or … in real.