A Healing Pause

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this Wednesday, I'd like to reflect for a moment on what our current situation might mean for the planet and its inhabitants.

Certainly, there's no bright side to this pandemic, but if there's a glimmer of something positive, it's that human activity has slowed down to the point where the planet appears to be beginning the process of healing itself.  All across the globe, pollution levels have dropped dramatically, waterways are clearing, endangered sea turtles and other marine life are laying eggs on abandoned beaches, and wild animals are roaming in areas once crowded with humans.

These changes could be temporary and fleeting, or they could be the start of a new way of being.  People may find that they like working from home, parents may decide to continue homeschooling, businesses will surely restructure to adapt to the economic downturn. 
My hope and prayer is that this pause will teach us something about ourselves, about what is most important to us, and about the world we live in; and that together, all who live on this planet will become more mindful and aware.
We hear on every commercial that "we are all in this together", so that it begins to sound trite, but if we really think about what this means at its deepest level, we realize that the interconnected nature of all life on earth has become painfully apparent and can no longer be ignored.  A favorite poem by Mary Oliver speaks to my heart:

Poem of the One World

This morning 

the beautiful white heron

was floating along above the water

and then into the sky of this

the one world 

we all belong to 

where everything 

sooner or later  

is a part of everything else

which thought made me feel 

for a little while

quite beautiful myself. 

When this crisis is over and we have begun the slow process of rebuilding our confidence, our economy and the very fabric of our society, may we remember the lessons that this pause has taught us and live carefully and mindfully in this "one world we all belong to".