With some luck, tomorrow we will celebrate Lammas / Lughnasadh. The sourdough loaf I baked a week or so ago is almost gone. Tomorrow I’ll freshen the starter again and bake around midweek. I just read a paragraph that highlights for me how this feast fits these times.
The essence of Lughnasadh is the joy of life under the knowledge that darker times are moving in. We take in the warming rays of the Sun and store their power for the times coming. At the time we celebrate the next festival, Alban Elfed, it will be fall and the warm summer days will already be a memory.
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| we live by bread, but not alone
Photo by J. Harrington
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If you’re concerned about our own darker times, you should consider taking a look at a book to be published next month, Democracy Awakening NOTES ON THE STATE OF AMERICA, By Heather Cox Richardson. I’ve been reading her Letters from an American for some time and find it heartening and reassuring. We’ve been through dark times before and, no doubt, will again. In large part it’s up to US how things get resolved.
In Democracy Awakening, Richardson crafts a compelling and original narrative, explaining how, over the decades, a small group of wealthy people have made war on American ideals. By weaponizing language and promoting false history they have led us into authoritarianism — creating a disaffected population and then promising to recreate an imagined past where those people could feel important again. She argues that taking our country back starts by remembering the elements of the nation’s true history that marginalized Americans have always upheld. Their dedication to the principles on which this nation was founded has enabled us to renew and expand our commitment to democracy in the past. Richardson sees this history as a roadmap for the nation’s future.
Another level headed source of hope that I think I’ve mentioned before is Tristan Roberts. Today he asks, and answers quite satisfactorily, the question: do you have hope for our kids? He concludes his answer this way:
I don't need to summon hope for the kids. They were born for this world. They've got everything they need.
That includes us, showing up every day, expressing ourselves.
Tomorrow is a first attempt at a Tweetless Tuesday. I’m going to do my best to avoid that platform tomorrow and may even see if I can forego my daily dose of doom and gloom by not reading the news media. If the world does end tomorrow, would one of you ber so kind as to mention it in the comments here? Thanks!
The Power of Hope Today
Today’s hope is a flickering candle that dwells in a snow-dusted window,
circulating the prayers of Christmas mornings.
Today’s hope is the crisp daffodil in colorless photos,
containing the soul of a small
child,
who only wishes and knows of
peace and love.
Today’s hope is the sparkling eyes that
truly believe in achieving
anything to reach unity.
Today’s hope is the palm to palm connection
bracing each other for the climb neither expected,
but couldn’t abandon.
Today’s hope is peering
beyond
the lingering barrier,
but still recognizing the diversity in ourselves.
Today’s hope has been dimmed and tossed recklessly,
but still generously stays with us,
for we cannot help but come back
like wide eyed children to candy.
We are said to be weak to rely on such strength,
but we are only believers.
That spark
That gives science a baffled case
And oceans an infinite plane,
is the eagle that dips
and soars
and fights,
which stands for
the hope of
today.
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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.
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