Walk softly in springtime

In the pre-pandemic days, St. Andrew’s choir would, every year, sing Walk Softly in Springtime.

A gentle hymn of praise and appreciation for the beauty the Creator gives us each day, the hymn is written by Canadian Edna Grant.

Have a listen with this choir at https://youtu.be/TmQ-jlaYha4 or sing it yourself by folllowing the lyrics that are accompanied at https://youtu.be/9J7qc2lMOQU

It is a poem thanking the Creator for the beauty around us. The trees, each with its unique architecture and each with its own time for leaves to bud and burst open. The flowers – the earliest bulbs like the crocuses, then the tulips and the bulbs and other flowers to come.

In Canada, our appreciation of nature and the seasons acknowledges Indigenous wisdom. In Canada, our value of helping our neighbour to not just survive but flourish, again, is infused with the Indigenous value of community and caring for others.

Last week, in our second Healing and Reconciliation series, Rev. Dr. Margaret Mullin — an Indigenous woman and Presbyterian minister — perhaps said it best: “Indigenous and non-Indigenous (people), all nations of the world, live in a common river of life. We live in different areas of the earth because that’s where the Creator planted us.”

How beautiful. How wise.

In Canada, our sense of caring for the land and for each other includes the Indigenous values of healing circles, of working together to survive and caring for the world around us, as we recognize we are only stewards of it.

Although different, although varied in talents and in needs, we each have a role. We need what each other brings.

What are your talents? What are your interests? You are an incredible work and are deeply loved. You might not blend in with the crowd – but that’s not just ok, it’s an incredible opportunity.

How can you share what you are as we walk together to care for our world – our environment, our community, our world.

Start by walking softly in springtime.