New Life

Living in 2025 can be a complex task at the best of times. I’m grateful for the Springtime. Warm rays of sunshine, colourful flowers poking up from the earth, and new buds on barren trees and shrubs all give me hope and remind me that new life can come from darkness.

Parker Palmer says that “before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck…But in that muddy mess, the conditions for rebirth are being created,”[1]. And so, looking at our world situation right now, I’m hoping that somehow new beginnings will mysteriously come from the destruction and muck.

My spiritual mentor, Maureen Fowler often reminded me that life is full of “mini” Paschal mysteries. Many sufferings and deaths occur—and they all lead to some sort of new life. Reflecting back on my life has allowed me to see the truth of her words.

But even knowing that new life was coming in some way didn’t always help me during the death and disintegration times. Suffering is suffering.

I’ve found small ways to live in the dark times, hanging on the possibility of a better future. I've learned that new life, while maybe not in my own lifetime, eventually will come. At least in some form.

It has been my relationship with the Holy that has helped me cling to the hope that somehow newness will come forth from loss. And during the suffering, with encouragement from others I’ve even been able to see glimpses of love, compassion, goodness, and beauty. That is, I’ve seen the presence of God even in the harshest of times. If I've taken the time to look.

What I’ve also experienced is that when I’ve spent time in prayer and silence, especially in times of darkness and uncertainty, I’ve been able to see things differently. Somehow, things were able to shift inside me. I've changed as I sat with the unknowing and pain. And that in itself is new life, a mini-resurrection.

The song Somewhere to Begin invites us to actively work towards new life in ways that might not typically come to mind. The composer T.R. Richie, suggests that newness can begin through singing, dreaming, and loving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxMF6KlXqdQ

Today I invite you to two spiritual practices:

Prayerfully listen to and/or sing Somewhere to Begin. The words of the song are printed below the mother duck and her ducklings. Consider how new life might be arising inside you in the chaotic times of 2025.
In the presence of God, reflect on a time of suffering you’ve experienced that brought new life. If you feel able, ask God to help you reflect on a second time of suffering. One in which new life didn't seem to come. Ask for help to seek any small glimpse of new life--perhaps in yourself, or in the situation itself. Ask for help to live with the possibility that new life may not come until far in the future.