It is incredible how time has sped on. Today begins another Spring, the season of my birth and I have lived through so many historical and personal events. At the end of this month, I will reach another birthday.
Since I last wrote an entry here, there are some events that have happened. The primary major event has been a pandemic which circled the globe and still is not totally gone, despite the way many are viewing it. It helped that vaccines were created to lessen the death toll, but it hasn't helped many who do not trust vaccines which may not keep them entirely free of the coronavirus, but it has lessened the impact of the disease on many who have developed the symptoms. I never thought I would see such resistance to medical aid, but then a lot has occurred I didn't think I'd see.
I grew up in a tumultuous age, the 1960s. I think the 2020s is in many ways worse. There is so much division, distrust, and hatred that it hurts my heart. I have reduced watching the news because I just can't deal with the way of the world currently.
Since my last post, people I knew have died. Not from the coronavirus but other health and age related difficulties. It's also made me look back at friendships I lost and had to face the "for a season" view of friendship that I resisted. I always hoped for long term friendships especially in adulthood but now, I find it is unlikely to occur for more than a few years. Perhaps some would see that as "long term."
I am grieving the loss of a friend who died in an accident in 1972, having kept that sorrow tamped down until it surfaced due to recent reflection. At the time, they were 18 and we had reconnected shortly before we were to go to separate colleges. Then I got the news that they died. I had wondered why I had not heard from them for a while. It hit me like a gut punch. Not my first experience with loss through death, but still not expected. I thought we had a relationship that would grow. But it was not to be. "A Song for Adam" by musician Jackson Browne touched my heart. It is a song I have long been familiar with but it took on a greater meaning as I thought of my long deceased friend.
I moved in and out of various spiritual practices, and nearly three years ago became an Associate with the Community of St. Mary, an Episcopal monastic group based in Sewanee, TN, one of my favorite places to live in my childhood. I hope sometime this year to visit there again. The last time was pre-pandemic.
So as this part of the world faces a new season, I hope to get more discipline and blog more frequently. I doubt many will read my ramblings but who knows?
