With coronavirus and the election dominating the headlines this fall, you may have, like me, missed the release of a major document in the ecumenical world.  On October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis released a new encyclical titled Fratelli tutti (Brothers all, or, Siblings all).  Encyclicals carry the highest authority of papal teaching for the church, and this is the third and perhaps final from this pope. The pandemic struck as Francis was writing.  In the introduction he writes that Covid-19 has been “exposing our false securities,” and “anyone who thinks that the only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing, or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality.” The title, translated “Siblings all” communicates the global scope of concern.  In the first chapter he reflects on the current regression from global cooperation and rise

I wish it weren’t so, but it is and it seems to be increasing. A too regular companion of mine these days is anger. I am angry about the pandemic. I am angry about the contentious state of our country and the election. I am angry about darkness and cold coming. I am angry that my husband is no longer here to share this with me. And now I have a new one. I am angry that my daughter and her husband are not coming for Thanksgiving and I probably won’t see them till long into 2021. I can intellectualize and say I understand why we are sequestered for the pandemic and why it is too risky for my kids to come. I am old enough to have a long view and understand why the country is so fractured. And darkness, that just happens. But that does not ease the

Beside my desk at home, I have a note written on a piece of paper that reads, “Concepts can change, but principles always stay the same.” “Always” is underlined. It came from a business-related seminar that I was attending but it resonated with me on a personal level. It was the fall of 2016 and I was struggling with mental health issues. Since then, I have spent a considerable amount of time learning about me – “self-care” I believe is the current buzzword. I wake up early to meditate, read, journal, and do affirmations. I don’t do all of them every day, I am not that disciplined. In fact, I don’t do all of them ANY day, but I DO do at least one of them every day. What I have discovered is that intentionally starting my day in a place of gratitude makes all the difference in the world.

Or a special treat from Whit’s?  Once in 2018 and once in 2020 I bicycled a significant distance for a Whit’s treat.  The main difference being the first time was both a greater distance than the second and the treat was a nice, geographically convenient add-on to the real reason for the trip (first two-day journey, carrying camping gear).  The second time, Whit’s was the destination. With Covid having cancelled events that practically define summer for me, I decided my Independence Day celebration in this novel (this ain’t fiction, though) year would be riding 20 miles to Whit’s in Sunbury.  I invited Jerry Nussbaum, who lives almost within view of the Ohio to Erie Trail, to join me.  He was so pleased with the idea that I found him pedaling toward me as soon as I turned onto his road. Six conversation-quick miles later we slapped on masks, studied the