Change.

Something has shifted in me. Perhaps it is simply a time-marker: I’ve been here in this house for more than 100 days. Perhaps it is the volume of reading I’ve done over these months. Perhaps it is this confinement. But nonetheless, something has changed. I’ve moved from gentle survival to something I cannot yet name. The name will come in time, I’m sure. But for now, I’m leaning into strong voices of people with good hearts and good messages to buoy myself. So, each time I post, I will share someone’s message that has helped me find rightness in the world, helped to balance me, helped to focus me in a better direction.

We’ve been tossed about in this pandemic without a voice or heart nationally to guide us. States are struggling, their leaders torn between politics and policy and the needs of their people, leaving much to localities. Medical professionals are left to compound reactions and best choices of patient care to try to decide how to keep their communities safe without national best practices as guides. And we are being split open by the political divide between Trump and whomever his enemy of the day is.

So in this context, I share with you the words, the heart, of one who has become a good, very good, leader in the world and of her nation: Angela Merkel. Here is her opening message to her people on how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vT8e7lkjl8&feature=emb_rel_end

The comfort I found was in her care for her people, helping them to know how to care for each other.

What did you find?