Sitting in a diner at breakfast time this morning, I was just given my laminated menu when an elderly woman in the next booth, having breakfast with a friend, whistled through her fingers, summoning the young waitress. You know the sound—the kind of shrill, single-note whistle we'd associate with a man demanding his off-in-the-weeds dog return. Then I heard her laugh to her friend, "Oh, that was rude."
A great vulgarity has been unleashed. I fear we are no longer evolving, but devolving. And I thought, "How will we ever invite a woman to lead us as president when we can't manage giving a hardworking, young waitress her dignity?"
What to do? I considered calling out this woman on her ugly behaviour, as I made my way to the door—but these are dangerous times, people weaponized and unpredictable. So when I returned home, I remembered that I had this photograph of the Wonder-Working, Syrian Mother of God icon. I've left the photograph large, so you can see her soft smile. She'll help me to recover from this exposure to low-end behaviour. And now to ask her for what we need as a nation:
O Wonder-Working Lady,
Mother of God
Mother of wounded Syria,
and our Mother too—
We need more
stargazers,
wave-watchers,
songbird admirers and
forest bathers.
We need more
stream listeners,
rose inhalers,
honey bee wonder-rs,
nature mystery sleuths and
cloud contemplators.
We need more
moon phase ponderers,
seed planters,
animal rescuers,
beauty imagine-rs,
Latin chanters and
icon gazers.
We need more
soil diggers,
green sprout detectors,
roadside recyclers,
beauty creators and
silence imaginers.
O Lady,
heal us by your
wide-eyed,
knowing gaze,
your gentle-ing smile,
your wisdom-filled mind
radiating new thoughts.
Save us by
the gift of your effulgent son,
Jesus,
the all courteous,
all compassionate,
all gracious one.
Amen.
