{"id":2535,"date":"2020-03-14T21:51:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T02:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/?post_type=updates&p=2535"},"modified":"2020-03-14T21:51:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-15T02:51:08","slug":"a-beautiful-word-from-fr-richard-hendrick","status":"publish","type":"updates","link":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/updates\/a-beautiful-word-from-fr-richard-hendrick\/","title":{"rendered":"A beautiful word from Fr. Richard Hendrick"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t know who this Father Richard Hendrick is but he wrote this beautiful message:<\/h4>\n
\n

Yes there is fear.<\/p>\n

Yes there is isolation.<\/p>\n

Yes there is panic buying.<\/p>\n

Yes there is sickness.<\/p>\n

Yes there is even death.<\/p>\n

But,<\/p>\n

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise<\/p>\n

You can hear the birds again.<\/p>\n

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet<\/p>\n

The sky is no longer thick with fumes<\/p>\n

But blue and grey and clear.<\/p>\n

They say that in the streets of Assisi<\/p>\n

People are singing to each other<\/p>\n

across the empty squares,<\/p>\n

keeping their windows open<\/p>\n

so that those who are alone<\/p>\n

may hear the sounds of family around them.<\/p>\n

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland<\/p>\n

Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.<\/p>\n

Today a young woman I know<\/p>\n

is busy spreading fliers with her number<\/p>\n

through the neighbourhood<\/p>\n

So that the elders may have someone to call on.<\/p>\n

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples<\/p>\n

are preparing to welcome<\/p>\n

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary<\/p>\n

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting<\/p>\n

All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way<\/p>\n

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality<\/p>\n

To how big we really are.<\/p>\n

To how little control we really have.<\/p>\n

To what really matters.<\/p>\n

To Love.<\/p>\n

So we pray and we remember that<\/p>\n

Yes there is fear.<\/p>\n

But there does not have to be hate.<\/p>\n

Yes there is isolation.<\/p>\n

But there does not have to be loneliness.<\/p>\n

Yes there is panic buying.<\/p>\n

But there does not have to be meanness.<\/p>\n

Yes there is sickness.<\/p>\n

But there does not have to be disease of the soul<\/p>\n

Yes there is even death.<\/p>\n

But there can always be a rebirth of love.<\/p>\n

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.<\/p>\n

Today, breathe.<\/p>\n

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic<\/p>\n

The birds are singing again<\/p>\n

The sky is clearing,<\/p>\n

Spring is coming,<\/p>\n

And we are always encompassed by Love.<\/p>\n

Open the windows of your soul<\/p>\n

And though you may not be able<\/p>\n

to touch across the empty square,<\/p>\n

Sing.<\/p>\n

\n

Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM<\/em><\/p>\n

March 13th 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates\/2535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/updates"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates\/2535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}