Hope is a Thing with Feathers

 

This is Inauguration Day. Inauguration literally means, “a ceremony to mark the beginning of something.” We have the inaugural day of school, of a new job, of a new relationship.

We all have experienced the thrill - and the unknown - of a beginning. Each new beginning is filled with possibility and hope. Each new beginning is filled with some level of uncertainty.

Today we celebrate a hallmark of our nation, the transfer of power from one presidential administration to the next. This day of inauguration marks the “beginning of something.” Like today, every previous Inauguration Day began its “something new” in the midst of the challenges of that time. Each administration began with some citizens overjoyed, some citizens despondent and some cynical about the whole idea.

As we come to this moment of change and new beginning, we can all be prayerful for peace on this day. Regardless of our personal political ideology we can all be prayerful that our country find healing in the face of both division and pandemic. We can all pray for our leaders to find wisdom and courage for the challenges before them. We can all pray that we, each in our own way, contribute to the common good by living lives of respect and compassion toward all.

On my walk, in cold temperature and bitter wind, I was greeted by this robin in a tree. A robin? The harbinger of spring, in January? This must be one confused bird! But there, in the low light, perched in a tree and singing away, I was grateful for the image.

As Emily Dickinson wrote,

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all...”

I pray this day, for peace. I pray this day for my country. And I pray a prayer of gratitude that hope never stops - at all.

Peace.