I don’t often take time to notice drops on dew on the grass, and the moment filled me with a sense of peace and safety. I was in the sanctuary of my own yard. Then my mind began to remind me of the contrasts between that peace and safety and the dangers in the world: deadly wildfires in Maui; civil and political unrest in the United States generally. I also thought of the contrast between the yard that I call mine and the rest of the city, the country, the world: I feel safe in my yard because I have the wealth and privilege to own property, which is a luxury that not everyone has – and is a mythical construct at a deeper level. U.S. law and culture say that private ownership of parcels of land is a thing; other cultures and laws say that land belongs to everyone, not to any individual.
I don’t own the dewdrops on the grass in “my” yard. As for the sense of peace and safety that I felt this morning, I do own that. And, I share that sense of peace and safety with a sense of outreach to others: an awareness that true and deep and lasting safety depends on sharing the earth’s resources, protecting the earth from harm, and having justice among the people of the earth.
Summer in Michigan is wonderful. May the beauty and peace that we experience in our personal lives guide us toward harmony, peace, and justice in the wider world.
PRAYER:
Unknown power that creates the dewdrops, gives me the sight to see them sparkling and the skin to feel their coolness: I witness your work in gratitude.
May I be at peace and at one with the beauty of Nature; may beauty and peace inspire me and strengthen me to do the work of love and justice in the world.
May it be so.
Rev. Drew Frantz
August 16, 2023