Good afternoon, Chaverim/Chaverot,
For anyone paying attention, I changed the title of this email from “Gratitude Thoughts in the MIDDLE of a Pandemic” to “Gratitude Thoughts in the MIDST of a Pandemic”…hoping that we have actually passed the MIDDLE of the pandemic, though it is clear that we are sadly still somewhere in its MIDST and Covid is not yet done with us.
So, when I saw this quote this morning, it felt like just the kind of reminder we could all use at this time, a full two years after Covid gripped our world and radically changed our world and our lives.
Here is today’s Gratitude Thought in the Midst of a Pandemic:
“Barns burnt down —now I can see the moon.”
Mizula Masahide (17th century Japanese poet and samurai)
While we often complain about our challenges (and Covid is surely one), it is important for us to remember that our challenges also open up possibilities and offer opportunities. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to “see the moon”, to recognize those possibilities and opportunities when in the midst (or middle!) of an on-going challenge…they are always easier to see from the other side, after some time has passed, in the bright light of “20/20 hindsight”.
And, in the midst or middle of a calamity, It is even harder to be grateful for the solutions that will emerge, from lessons we will learn and the wisdom we will take with us when we are finally able to overcome, or even just survive, it. It surely takes a leap of faith to find that gratitude…the gratitude grounded in the belief that the possibilities and opportunities that have yet to reveal themselves will become clear when the time is right.
A beautiful pre-spring afternoon leading into Shabbat feels like just the time to take that leap…
Shabbat Shalom to all,
Marci
