I looked out my kitchen window and saw something yellow on the ground. There is bush behind my house and I couldn’t figure out what might be there. Had to investigate. A crocus. Whaaat?! How did a crocus get there? I did not plant a crocus bulb in the forest floor. But somebody, or something did! I suspect a squirrel thought that bulb looked tasty and was saving it for a winter snack and then forgot about it. Now it blooms valiantly against all odds. It may not belong there but it is doing its work just the same.
Every now and then there will be a news report of an animal being in a place where it doesn’t belong. Not too long ago the morning news show featured a little segment telling of a beaver who showed up at at TTC station. There was no accounting for this critter trying to take a subway and no explanation as to how he got there but … there he was just the same. Sometimes we hear of birds showing up a bird feeders completely out of their range of flight. Who knows what brought them – the wind? The food supply? Something happened and there they were, right where they didn’t belong, but cheerfully raising their song.
When I hear these stories I think of other ways that we overcome adversity when out of our locale or sense of ease. We are, here in Ontario, back into lock-down as the Covid numbers keep going up. Stories are filtering in from around the globe as countries try to figure out how to defeat this virus. As we come to terms with this illness – clearly something that does not belong in our bodies – amidst the stories of death and loneliness and anxiety – we hear stories of people facing the adversity with aplomb and creativity.
There has been a news story circulating the last week or so about La Verne Ford Wimberley. La Verne, an American woman, dresses to the nines every Sunday for church. She puts on a beautiful dress and dons a glorious ribboned and bowed hat ( a different one every Sunday for the past 52 sundays) and sits down in her living room to watch her church service. She is quite a counterpoint to those of us who sit in our pyjamas or sweats and don’t even bother to comb our hair! She has chosen to bloom in the midst of the forest of sorrow.
This week, post-Easter I am trying to think of ways to bring the resurrection to my everyday. How is the story of life overcoming the stories of death? How is the joy of Easter overcoming the sorrow of Good Friday? How is the crocus blooming where it doesn’t belong but blooming just the same?
I would love to hear your stories of where you saw a splash of colour or heard a note of joy that helped you shift your perspective from death to life. Write in the comments below or send me an email. We need some Sunday hat stories!!
The relief and joy of being vaccinated comes quickly to mind. There is such pleasure all around as friends and family get their shots. The other light side of it all came in a comment from a friend. She giggled that now we know everyone’s age as people share that they are “booked”.
Phyllis, from the March 8 post, lives in a vaccinated residence where they are experiencing a pandemic “unwinding”. Imagine Phyllis wearing a Hawaiian lei and enjoying a rum with other residents. The rest of the province will catch up soon!