It is Groundhog Day when I write, which is usually not a day that I pay a lot of attention to. The ritual of watching the groundhog and figuring out whether it sees its shadow has always been a little confusing to me, if I’m honest.
But the day had a certain resonance for me this year. As I look out my office window I look out onto a gray day and there is a gentle rain. I have to confess I’m missing the days of sunshine we were so blessed to have recently. The gray has returned. Could I even call it a Covid gray? Feels as if I’ve been here before. And that’s probably why I’m thinking about that groundhog and one day blending into another.
There is a déjà vu quality to life these days. Working from home. Care due to the latest round of Covid. This time, it seems, more complicated about what is safe and what is not. In addition to that it seems as if the world only continues to get worse. The news this week that troops are headed to Europe as Russia threatens Ukraine. Continued revelations about the ongoing threats to our very democracy. There is just so much to hold. Feels as if I need to gird myself to be present to the news of the day.
In the midst of gray and déjà vu days, it may be especially important to remind myself of the blessings of my life. To close my eyes when that sense of overwhelm with the world shows up. To close my eyes and to remember what I have in my life. To put any given day—any given world event—in context. I think that is one of the spiritual challenges for all of us in these times.
I offer you this poem that came across my screen recently. It made me smile, especially the part about the dog.
Blessings.
Tom
The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog by Alicia Suskin Ostriker
To be blessed
said the old woman
is to live and work
so hard
God’s love
washes right through you
like milk through a cow
To be blessed
said the dark red tulip
is to knock their eyes out
with the slug of lust
implied by
your up-ended
skirt
To be blessed
said the dog
is to have a pinch
of God
inside you
and all the other dogs
can smell it