Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Silver Linings

Anne Mackin

When Reverend Rob invited us to consider silver linings from our months of COVID lockdown, I thought, “What a great idea.” Then I thought back to those months. The past winter seemed especially like a graveyard of hopes, and a time of political darkness, and starvation for the conviviality of human company outside my family.

But Rob was right: After looking a little deeper, I realized there were a number of things to be grateful for: Like so many Americans, my family took solace in nature, and we were grateful for all the miracles of God’s creation. We got to enjoy a world without the roar of traffic, that recalled the one we grew up in. And I got to work on my meditation practice, which helped. But there was more.

During this time, I “Zoomed” with a few friends, or took masked walks with others, but I especially enjoyed connecting with an old friend from my adolescence: my ninth-grade geography teacher with whom I’ve always kept in touch. At age 60, she became a minister in the Presbyterian church. She has always inspired me with her efforts to understand and give to the world on a deeper level, and we enjoyed our monthly Zoom very much. This winter, at 79, she told me about a group of friends with whom she still shares a weekly spiritual discussion. It made me realize how much I longed for something like that. I started to follow two churches in Portsmouth. And when I started getting the Reflections from Saint John’s in my email inbox, I was hooked! Now I’ve been pleased to “attend” a Saint John’s service on YouTube, and three times in the lovely Goodwin Garden at Strawbery Banke. This discovery definitely qualifies as a very silver lining. Or perhaps this is the garden that grew from spiritual seeds planted during the long dormant season of the last year.