Dear Friends;
Loving greetings to you on this snowy morning. (If its not snowing in your neighbourhood, I guess ‘Spring has Sprung!’ )
Today I’m inviting you to reflect on the word – Fortitude. Tomorrow’s reflection will be on Laughter. It seems to me that they both describe some of what we need in these challenging days.
Before reading this “Reflection”, I want to invite you to participate in a quieter way in the recognition of the women and men who are on the front lines of this battle against Covid-19. (I am referring especially to the nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, psw’s, paramedics, police officers, fire fighters, cleaners, store clerks in stores selling essentials. . .) Might I suggest that rather than “banging pots” as suggested by RNAO – that we light a candle in our windows at 7:30 each evening, (keeping the flame well away from draperies) and take time to say a prayer on their behalf. This quieter action might help the neighbours infants and toddlers to sleep better! 😉
First Fortitude
If we played “word association” – the first word that came to mind might be “strength”, or “courage”, or “bravery”, or maybe “determination”?
As a student of history my mind takes me back to the experience of our parents and grandparents. My Mom & Dad (Florence and Frank) were born in 1911 and 1916 respectively. They were just young folk – teens – when the world economy collapsed in October 1929 – bringing on The Great Depression. (Often called “the dirty thirties”. I recommend Pierre Burton’s The Great Depression to bring the era to life.)
No sooner had Florence & Frank, and their generation, found their way through these hungry years, than they were plunged into the Second (devastating) World War. A million young Canadians were in uniform – joining young people from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India, and then the USA – allied forces who put their lives on the line to defeat the forces of Fascism and Nazism.
Though those of us born after 1945 have not known economic depression or world war, we were bequeathed the values that allowed earlier generations to prevail over these terrible times.
It is those same values – which it, seems to me are best summed up by “Fortitude” – upon which we must draw now as we battle COVID-19.
We are being asked to sacrifice some of the individual freedoms we’ve taken for granted. We must rise to the challenge! The future of millions are in our hands. The time has come for us to set aside anything that is holding us back, and to act for the good of community – our County, Province, Nation and our human family.
A major aspect is the need for us to stay home. This is difficult. But make no mistake, it is absolutely essential to our efforts to stop this virus. Should we fail to rise to this challenge there will be dire consequences. So lets draw on the fortitude we’ve inherited from our courageous , strong, brave, and determined parents and grandparents! Let’s just do it!
Once again we can be sure as we do that “God is with us. We are not alone.”
With pastoral love & support,
Rev. Phil
P.S. And finally, these words from Desmond Tutu: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s these little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” (Or the COVID-19 as the case may be!)
