REFLECTION IN A DARK POND

Our world is fraught with chaos, disaster, tragedy, and injustice. It can’t help but  spill into our lives, and it feels somehow irreverent to declare a moment of personal happiness in the midst of such upheaval. 

Still, I would argue that we must. It is our duty to our humanity to accept joy. By our joy, we heal ourselves from the daily wounds; and from our healing, we become able to heal others. If it is in our future to fight, to endure, and even to fall, the blessings of a single moment may be what keeps us from succumbing.

I accept peace, guilt-free and open, arming myself with the vision of a better, safer, righter time for all.

This is my bed of roses.

Even though the world is in turmoil, my family is safe, my drinking water pure and abundant. None of my cats are sick. I have everything I need and more. (Finally, being a hoarder is paying off.) The weather is soft here—no tornadoes or wildfires.

Mine is a good life. In my elder age, I have moved from doing to being. There is wisdom in that, and patience, and hope beyond what can be seen with the eye, heard with the ear, forecast by a worried mind. I can believe in miracles.

I know it all could come crashing down at any moment. I know my quiet will not last. That alone makes it precious. I appreciate today, not waste it on past regrets or future fears. I can say thank you to God for each one moment of peace.