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by Mrinalini Sebastian
from the First Baptist Church Newton newsletter

We worry. We worry about the well-being of the frailest among us; we worry about our aging parents and our children. We worry about ourselves: spouses, siblings, friends, and colleagues. Unfortunately, there is no switch that we can turn on and stop worrying about life’s unexpected twists and turns. Fear of the unknown is real and fear is what we have to face.

And yet, this season of anxiety has come to us just as leafless trees that looked like large, upside-down brooms show delicate thickening in the tip of every branch. The weeping willow trees are wearing translucent veils of yellow-green. The woody limbs of huge trees are sporting tiny red buds. The dogwood tree is getting ready to show off the most elegant flowers. The ground is gently covered by purple robes of crocus flowers. Yellow, the color of the first flowers of spring, suddenly jumps out of the roadside bushes that seemed scrawny and dead just the other day. There are signs of resilience and rebirth even in the most difficult parts of the city.

Yes. We are anxious.
Yes. We are frightened.
Yes. We are not automatons that can turn on modes called “Fear Not” or “Be Equanimous”.

I have decided to look at the dwarf irises that splash happy colors of renewal on the sad-looking earth.
I have decided to learn from the bright hope of defiant crocuses that have returned to life.

Life is. Even in the time of a pandemic.
Life is, even in the time of a pandemic. So, don't lose heart.