Stories of Hope The empty grocery store shelves I saw this morning reminded me of how fortunate I am to live in America. Our temporary inconvenience pales in comparison to countries where food shortages are a way of life.
Spring is always a new start and for America and Americans, the best days are always yet to come.
Some shoppers had masks, some gloves. Most used hand sanitizer and kept their social distance. All had the glum look of someone who just came from a funeral. Where is our sense of optimism hiding?
As I walked four miles last evening on the Spanish Fork River Trail, listening to birds, watching new plants sprouting, and avoiding deer using the trail alongside me, it became apparent that the rest of life on this planet is blissfully unaware of our panic. Life is going on whether we humans spin in circles or not.
A lot of smart people are solving the coronavirus, and there is actually bipartisan effort to create legislation to protect our economy. There will be setbacks along the way because we don’t know what we don’t know. But I am impressed with the speed, focus, and intensity of the problem solvers. Arriving home, I noticed that the lawn has started greening up and would probably need to be cut soon; a chore that after all of the bad news of late I’m looking forward to. I thought about my neighbors who just yesterday had their first child. And I knew at that instant that we’ll all be all right.
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~Bill S.
This has had only positive effects on the natural world. Less consumption, pollution, disruption and mayhem must be the perspective of every living nonhuman thing I saw last night. Did you see the canals in Venice? For the first time in decades the water is clear enough to see the fish, and the swans have returned. Would the planet miss us if we left? Is this a massive karmic comeuppance for our species? I do not know, but I do hope that slowing down and realizing we can be our own worst enemies becomes a permanent guiding principle and not a transient thought remembered vaguely when this crisis is past.
~Elizabeth B. I have turned my Christmas window candles back on. It’s the smallest gesture imaginable, and it isn’t on a par with sending a $1,000 check or volunteering to test a vaccine. It isn’t as important as supplying ventilators or intensive care unit beds. But at a time when I can’t go out and hug my neighbors, it sends the message that, as real and scary as the virus situation is, we will get through it. We will learn lessons that will help us to be better and do better in our shared future. Dark as this time might be, history and our own hearts tell us that light always overcomes darkness. If you drive past my home, don’t think that I’m stuck in December. I’m only sending a message that says the light is stronger than the dark; both the light of human wisdom and goodness and the light of life and creation itself.
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~Carol H.
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THE HEROES OF 2020 PROJECT
