A friend of mine shared an article with me today that had the sobering headline: “Epidemiologist warns next 6 to 12 weeks will be ‘darkest of the entire pandemic.’” Articles like this hit our already pandemic-wearied souls with a new wave of anxiety as we anticipate not only entering a darker period of the solar year, but also a new wave of heaviness and threat as await a vaccine. We are facing a hard road ahead – and there’s no softening that. What we need is courage for the difficult journey. I took my son on one last camping trip for the season this past weekend and enjoyed the time after he was tucked into to his sleeping bag and extra blankets, sitting next to a hot campfire as the cold and dark settled in around our campsite.

Courage is like a fire lit in our hearts, warming and providing light in the midst of dark and uncertain spaces.  And part of what gives fuel to the fire of our courage is that we’ve been down this road of precaution, of hunkering down, of waiting out, before. And this time around we have skills honed that we did not have before.  Many of us have learned or are making plans or intentions to learn connecting technologies like Zoom and Facetime. Staying connected, walking this journey in good company, having people you can be brutally honest with about your feelings (finding a therapist you can call or Facetime!) – all of these ways of attending to your heart and mind will be important for sustaining us through the months ahead. Lean into those things you found helpful so far, become curious about what has been helpful for others you know and can talk to who have been in similar circumstances to you.  Ask friends and family to help you keep the fire going during the long winter. And know that the three chaplains and six interns here in the Spiritual Care & Education Department here at HHH will be here, available to listen, to companion with you in the darkness, to help you stay connected,  and navigate through to a better 2021.

Here’s a poem for today, and perhaps to print out and put on your fridge for tomorrow and the months to come:

For Courage
By John O’Donahue

When the light around you lessens
And your thoughts darken until
Your body feels fear turn
Cold as a stone inside,

When you find yourself bereft
Of any belief in yourself
And all you unknowingly
Leaned on has fallen,

When one voice commands
Your whole heart,
And it is raven dark,

Steady yourself and see
That it is you own thinking
That darkens your world,

Search and you will find
A diamond-though of light,

Know that you are not alone
And that this darkness has purpose;
Gradually it will school your eyes
To find the one gift your life requires
Hidden within this night-corner.

Invoke the learning
Of every suffering
You have suffered.

Close your eyes.
Gather all the kindling
About your heart
To create one spark.
That is all you need
To nourish the flame
That will cleanse the dark
Of its weight of festered fear.

A new confidence will come alive
To urge you toward higher ground
Where your imagination
Will learn to engage difficulty
As its most rewarding threshold!