“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

2 Corinthians 4:16,

This has been a tough week for our country. We have witnessed on the news the shooting death of Duante Wright by a police officer. The officer thought she had her taser and accidentally shot him with her gun. We also watched Adam Toldeo, a thirteen year old boy, lose his life when a police officer shot and killed him when his hands were empty and his hands were up. We have also witnessed the continued deliberations on the Derek Chauvin trial who put his knee to George Floyd’s neck. This has been a hard week. We recently celebrated Easter yet the Alleluias we sung are drowned with cries of mercy. As the psalmist says, “How long must we sing this song?” Cornell West says that finding hope means that we need to wrestle with our despair. And the harder we wrestle will be the greater our hope. So my dear friends, just know that while there is great despair there is also great hope…right now…taking place in our world. Right now…

Right Now

Right now there are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven’t met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God’s children. 

A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, “nourish them”.

 Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you.

Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favorite food is, and treat you to a movie.

Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you — for free.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. From where they are, they just can’t see it . 

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche — this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you.

Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest. 

Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water. 

Someone is regaining their sanity.

Someone is coming back from the dead.

Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable.

Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now. 

~ Mary Standing Otter