Eve of Diwali, Festival of Lights

Tracy Niven
Friday 13 November 2020

Good morning,

As we wake up in Fife today in a new Level of Coronavirus regulations – Level 3 – and on the eve of Diwali, festival of lights, I thought I would share one of the Hearts of Light presentations made a few weeks ago on Tuesday 27 October by Barbara Davey, Honorary Quaker Chaplain.

The world is in the midst of an almost unbelievable experience, and we in St Andrews are sharing in it. The Chaplaincy team have been thinking about how we can mark the loss, fear, love and hope which we have witnessed, in a simple but powerful way. And so we have organised Hearts of Light.

We will gather in solidarity with all affected by Covid in whatever way, and light the lanterns as a sign of hope that we will return in time to less constrained lives of connection and community.

Please feel free to flick the switch on the base of your lantern now.
In a quiet moment we stand together, our lights a sign that we uphold people in whatever they face at this time.
As the semester continues, it will be darker and darker each week, and our lights may shine more brightly.

………

Loss  Fear  Love  Hope
we hear those four simple words at the beginning of each Hearts of Light

Loss  Fear  Love  Hope
they sound out like the tolling of a bell from up there in the Chapel tower

The words carry such weight and will have a particular resonance for each of us

Hope is the one I’ve been focusing on as I prepared for today
Facing such uncertainty, when there are so many unknowns –
in my own life and the lives of family and friends
in the life of this community of town and university
in the life of the country and the wider world –
what can it mean to have hope?

For me, and perhaps for you, this COVID time is one of intense emotion –
sadness, joy, anger, vulnerability, frustration, longing –
These emotions may feed into our sense of hope
but hope isn’t optimism, it isn’t an emotion

Mariame Kaba, the US activist famously describes hope as a
commitment to the future that must manifest in action

I find it helpful to see hope as a discipline
and, reminiscent of the Biblical girding up your loins
or the beautiful St Patrick’s Breastplate prayer
I have an image of hope as a cloak which needs must I wrap around me
whenever I go out to face the world

The word chaplain is based on the Old French word for cloak
so I’ve especially enjoyed playing with that image

and here’s a short poem that offers a reflection on that cloak, and on hope

 

Cloak of Cares

the yarn is loss
a weave of disappointments
feel the weight of it

its warp and weft
so tightly worked
the fabric scarce can breathe

flashes of fear, siren-blue, run wild
criss-cross the twists of sunrise gold

moon silver is there too
it comes and goes
but its thread holds fast, love-shuttled

this is my cloak when I venture forth
will you walk with me?
will you share this cloak?

………………………………………….

The event has come to an end. Please leave your lantern in your heart space
and make your way out

We hope to meet again next Tuesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yours,
Donald.

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