Here is a poem from an Irish Franciscan, Richard Hendrick, written March 13, 2020. Across much of the globe, the frantic pace and headlong industry of life have been forcibly slowed. Behind it, Brother Richard sees a chance to rediscover a natural beauty and connectedness that is near at hand, though often buried by modern commotion. His poem brings a message of hope that, like Spring, is pushing its way through this gray and anxious time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lockdown<\/strong> Yes there is fear. Hendricks brings a message of hope that, like Spring, is pushing its way through this gray and anxious time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[171,170,167,169,168,166],"class_list":{"0":"post-1817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-news","8":"tag-corona-virus-art","9":"tag-franciscan-poet","10":"tag-poem-for-your-troubles","11":"tag-poetry-for-troubled-times","12":"tag-poetry-saves-lives","13":"tag-richard-hendricks","15":"post-with-thumbnail","16":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/marco-secchi-JcisCWrKUOA-unsplash.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9HFgk-tj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1817"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1830,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions\/1830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanps.org\/sandbox-6-30-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nby Richard Hendrick<\/p>\n
\nYes there is isolation.
\nYes there is panic buying.
\nYes there is sickness.
\nYes there is even death.
\nBut,
\nThey say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
\nYou can hear the birds again.
\nThey say that after just a few weeks of quiet
\nThe sky is no longer thick with fumes
\nBut blue and grey and clear.
\nThey say that in the streets of Assisi
\nPeople are singing to each other
\nacross the empty squares,
\nkeeping their windows open
\nso that those who are alone
\nmay hear the sounds of family around them.
\nThey say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
\nIs offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
\nToday a young woman I know
\nis busy spreading fliers with her number
\nthrough the neighborhood
\nSo that the elders may have someone to call on.
\nToday Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
\nare preparing to welcome
\nand shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
\nAll over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
\nAll over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way
\nAll over the world people are waking up to a new reality
\nTo how big we really are.
\nTo how little control we really have.
\nTo what really matters.
\nTo Love.
\nSo we pray and we remember that
\nYes there is fear.
\nBut there does not have to be hate.
\nYes there is isolation.
\nBut there does not have to be loneliness.
\nYes there is panic buying.
\nBut there does not have to be meanness.
\nYes there is sickness.
\nBut there does not have to be disease of the soul
\nYes there is even death.
\nBut there can always be a rebirth of love.
\nWake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
\nToday, breathe.
\nListen, behind the factory noises of your panic
\nThe birds are singing again
\nThe sky is clearing,
\nSpring is coming,
\nAnd we are always encompassed by Love.
\nOpen the windows of your soul
\nAnd though you may not be able
\nto touch across the empty square,
\nSing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"