“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
The crispness in the air, the sounds of Canada Geese on the move, the chattering of children and their parents as they walk to school-bus stops, the aroma of pumpkin spice and the sipping of warm coffee and tea welcome those of us living here in southeastern Pennsylvania to the emergence of a new season, and what a beautiful season it is!
I invite you to join me in writing a poem a day until the end of this month of October, with the emphasis of the poem highlighting what you are noticing during this season in your life, wherever you may live.
For so many in our world, this is a season of tragedy and unbearable grief. I am reminded of the scripture in the Gospel of Matthew 2:18:
“A cry was heard in Ramah – weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”
Writing and singing and creating music are avenues of and for healing. Remaining present, just being present, with those in traumatic grief and loss, is what we can offer. We might feel like throwing our harps into the trees and shouting, “How can we sing in this foreign land of unconsolable pain?”
Perhaps this quote from Mary Gauthier in her book “Saved by a Song” will aid us in this very moment:
“Songs bring us into connection with each other. When they resonate, when we’re in resonance, singing together, we become one for that 3 1/2 or four minutes the song lasts. It takes away that isolated loneliness that modern life is so full of.”
Here is what is emerging in my songwriting life this morning:
In the distance there is weeping
In the distance that is so near
In the distance there is no mooring,
No morning, but mourning in fear.
In the present there is hope
That love will see us through
A love that envelopes and overpowers hate
A love that heals slowly and leaves us
Gradually, steadily and reassuringly renewed
Now I once again invite you to write what you are noticing and observing in the moment of this season. May you find strength, hope and encouragement in what is being revealed to and expressed through you. I look forward to you sharing with me what emerges in your wonderful creative life.
Blessings and peace,
Michael
(photo credit: Johannes Plenio, unsplash.com)
