Love trumps the Lockdown
posted on
March 21, 2020
Good morning Family Cow friends,
Yes, it is still a good morning. Our Abba Father God is still Good and there is still a lot of good in His good world. Good people, good communities, good families, good friends with goodwill helping each other. This goodness is inspirational if we allow it to be our focus.
The spring sunshine is good and it is still shining even if it is sometimes behind clouds. Spring is here, spring grass is here and the miracle of new birth and new growth is here, and there is hope. It's all good.
And yes... there is love. YES! Share it.
Faith, Hope and Love. These three... But the greatest of these is Love! ~from 1 Corinthians 13:13
I know this week has brought a lot of bad news, some fear, and even quite a bit of panic. Sometimes our spirits feel overwhelmed within us like the psalmist says. (Psalm 143:4)
But there are bright spots!
One of those bright spots is a poem called Lockdown that landed in my inbox this week. So I thought I'd share it. Feel free to pass it on to your family and friends. Use this link.
On Monday I plan to share more info of a practical nature about food and farming and hope on those levels too. But for now, just enjoy this bit of inspiration.
We do pray for you and your families several times a day. We will make it... We are in this together.
Love and Blessings...
Your farmer friends,
Edwin and Dawn Shank and family... and the whole Family Cow Team!
Real Farmers. Real Caring. Real Foods.
Lockdown
A reflection by Brother Richard of the Capuchin Franciscans
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing
Your farmers,
Edwin and Dawn Shank and Family
God Designed it... We Respect it... That Explains it!
