At times these days I think of the way the sun would set on the farmland around our small house in the autumn.

A view of the horizon,
the entire circle of it, if you turned,
the sun setting behind you,
the sky in front becoming pink and soft,
then slightly blue again,
as though it could not stop going on in its beauty,
then the land closest to the setting sun would get dark,
almost black against the orange line of the horizon,
but if you turn around,
the land is still available to the eye with such softness,
the few trees, the quiet fields of cover crops already turned,
and the sky lingering, lingering, then finally dark.

As though the soul can be quiet for those moments.
All life amazes me.
~Elizabeth Strout, from My Name is Lucy Barton

I have learned,
from those much wiser than I am,
to recognize moments meant for quieting.

The news of the world constantly rushes past;
there is suffering beyond imagining
in the lives of a few I know well
and for millions I don’t know at all.

What little can I do to make a difference?
So much need lies beyond my short reach.

Instead of feeling abandoned on the shores of overwhelm,
I seek out the familiar, the routine, and the ordinary,
lingering immersed in the recurring patterns of the day and night
as the world keeps on spinning on its axis.

I too turn around to witness that which surrounds me,
and in so doing, my soul is quieted.
And amazed.

One year ago, my teacher and mentor Jane Goodall passed into eternity, leaving behind this message for us all…

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