Sunny days like yesterday and today give me hope. I know it will stay light a little longer, perhaps until 5 or so, instead of 4:30 on dark and cloudy days. I treasure whatever moments of daylight we can get before the evening settles in.

I canceled my cable subscription a couple of months ago. I don’t miss the mindless TV and have other opportunities to catch up on news each day. I have a streaming app for $6/mo and can watch local Chicago news if I am free or something is happening that I want a quick update on. With YouTube and phone news apps, as well as ability to search for anything online, there are ways to stay informed. It is important to stay informed, but not let the news of the world consume or overwhelm us.

After reading a link to The Washington Post from Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, I was left confused reading the disagreements between United States, the United Nations, Israel and Hamas over the differences between a humanitarian pause and temporary cease-fire regarding the war in the Middle East. Neither side can agree or is willing to budge for the sake of the lives of innocent civilians. Both were viewed as “tactical pauses” that would result in the continuation of the war and continue to delay the work of those trying to get aid to those impacted by the war as well as continue to negotiate the release of hostages. It can be overwhelming to think about the pain and suffering of all the lives being ravaged by this war.

In a world that feels more and more divisive, with the wars in our world, as well as political and religious dissension looming large in the news, I found comfort in the words I saw in a post yesterday of the first African-American Nobel prize winning author Toni Morrison (1931-2019), written in 2015:

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.

I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge – even wisdom.

Like art.”

In his Angelus message today from Rome, Pope Francis also offers us words to reflect on, looking to the Gospel for today, from St. Matthew, and the parable of the 10 virgins, 5 prepared and 5 unprepared with their lantern oil, for the arrival of the bridegroom and the wedding feast. The Pope asks us to consider the many ways we are more concerned with the things of the world, our appearance and our image to others, instead of “taking care of the things that cannot be seen…caring for the heart.” He suggests we should not ignore the “oil of inner life” and take time to look at our inner lives, of God’s gaze upon us.

Let us let the chaos in our world, lead us to that time of inner reflection, listening deeply to how God might be calling us to reach out to others in our broken world.

Like Bela in my photo today, look for the light wherever you can find it. Find stories of hope and inspiration. Stay informed but pray for peace and watch for the uplifting stories of those helping others, whether in war ravaged parts of our world, like the Middle East and Ukraine, aid being given to refuges being bused to cities with no homes or job, or those seeking to help those less fortunate in our country – veterans, mentally unstable and the homeless. Keep our inner lanterns replenished with nourishing oil by dedicating time to the matters of the heart and soul, being service to others as much as we are able, and to the things that matter to our spiritual lives.

Abundant blessings, Deena