Letter To Editor

One of my hopes for all of us during this time is that we would be open and receptive to revelation. Here, I’m not referring to the end of the world but, instead, to the uncomfortable recognition that some of our status quos are not working. And this can be a hard pill to swallow. Much like Neo in the Matrix, we are presented with the opportunity to either turn a blind eye to the injustices revealed in our system or repent from them, knowing that something is not right with the way things are.

What is this epidemic revealing to our society? What jobs do we now, all of a sudden, recognize as “essential”? Will they go back to being “unessential”?

There is a type of tree called an aspen. Aspens grow in groves, meaning their roots are connected and really, every tree you see is a small fraction of a greater whole. No group of trees within the grove is separate from the others. Even if some appear to be greater, taller and stronger than the rest, the health of the grove is not found in its greatest tree, but it’s weakest.

When we approach our world with the viewpoint that we are not interconnected, we allow our weakest to continue suffering - believing it is their own fault or, at least, their own problem. Instead, let us remember our roots, recognizing that the same life flowing through our veins, flows in us all. So when we see others suffering and dying, we won’t just watch, we’ll feel with them. And then, I pray, we would all pour more life into those dying places.

Brody Hed

Becker, MN