Hope: February 4 - 10

As we turned the corner into a new month, February begins with the feast of St Brigid. With its origins in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, St Brigid’s Day was the festival of fertility and marked the beginning of spring in Ireland. It signals an end to the darkness of winter and ushers in a new season of hope and growth.

Just this week, I spotted snowdrops poking up through the cold ground in Delaware. Such audacity. It filled me with a sense of hope. Don't we all need hope these days?

Kate Bowler, my new favorite theologian author, talks about hope as protest. Real hope isn't a squishy feeling but rather something radical. It recognizes the suffering and injustices all around. However, it doesn't look away but boldly dares to believe things can be different. Life can be better but only if we decide to replace the old ways with new ones. Mindfulness gives us eyes to see life both in its beauty and its ugliness. Hope empowers us to build a better world.

Practice

Find a spot on the earth to plant yourself for the next few minutes. Settle into the season. Maybe there is a chill in the air. Maybe the day is overcast as winter lingers on. Yet beneath the cold ground, the roots are preparing for the next season. Week by week, hints of new life are appearing as the earth begins to stir from its long winter slumber. Can you feel the same stirrings within? What dreams are waiting to surface with the coming of spring? What new energies are taking shape? Allow nature to speak to your heart. Soak in whatever is needed for new growth. Breath in new possibilities. Release old ways. Be the change you wish to see. Continue to sit in silence. Arise when it is time to resume your day but remember to carry the seeds of hope with you.