There are some moments when just the right hymn pops into my head at just the right time. And it can certainly be life-sustaining.

This morning was one of those mornings.

I’m not superstitious, and in fact I just love the number 13, but since this last Friday the 13th, it’s been one thing breaking after another. I was ready to start anew when I got out of bed today. With the weather being blissfully cool, I made my coffee and walked out onto the back deck. “Touch the Earth, Reach the Sky!” started playing in my mind, wrapping itself around my frustrations and reminding me of what I really needed to do in that moment to heal, recenter, and find joy- touch the Earth and feel its realness, its aliveness, and know that no matter what human-made things break (well, my tooth is an exception to human-made, sort of, but I digress…), the Earth will always be there to give me grounding and energy.

I offer you the first and last verse of this hymn:

Touch the earth, reach the sky!

Walk on shores while spirits fly

over the ocean, over the land,

our faith a quest to understand.

Touch the earth, reach the sky!

Soar with courage ever high,

spirits joining as we fly,

to touch the earth, to reach the sky.

There are three more verses to this song, and they are quite lovely. What speaks to me from these two is that they remind me to stay rooted in gratitude so that I may join with all of you in this community to be courageous and live life to its fullest, most joyful potential, even through the struggles. It’s not one or the other, it’s the deep interconnection between the two that flies along with us in time, over the ocean, over the land.

Be well, everyone. Don’t forget to take in the moments that the Earth has to offer us.