There is a song I have sung in church since I was a little girl. And there is one line that always stands out to me… “Time doth softly, sweetly glide when there’s love at home.”

For months now our everyday lives have been plagued with worry, with fear, with doubts, with loneliness, with uncertainty, with separation from loved ones. And now we see hatred spewed, division widening and civil unrest as cities burn. We have listened to the droned and robotic distortion from the media aired on our TV’s, on our phones, of the right versus left, of the broken policies and the dishonest dealings.

I would be lying if I said I haven’t found myself falling down the dark hole of information, theories, alarming facts, and conveniently dismissed truth. Without a doubt, these last few months have taken a toll – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and perhaps physically in some ways – on most of us. It is more often than not these days that I find myself lying awake in bed unable to quiet my mind. It races through what we will be facing next and what the future holds. Oftentimes it feels bleak, with the fear of the unknown overpowering all other emotions and with the repeated phrase “how did we get here” blinking in my thoughts like a neon light in the darkness of a city street.

And just when I feel the most helpless, just when the outside world seems far too much to bear, a little one will wake me from the fog with a hug, or a giggle, or a smile. And my arms wrap around them in a way only a mother could, and it is as if my cup suddenly begins to fill. It is an onrush of color and warmth and everything good and wholesome in the world and that sweet melody comes to mind with the words, “time doth softly, sweetly glide when there’s love at home”.

Yes, these days can be filled with worry, with angst, and with outrage. The future can look damning as we face things that stop us in our tracks. It can feel as if the wolves have descended and are clawing just outside the door. But the tighter I hold these little ones and the louder we let love speak for each other and for others… peace finds its place. Right here at home and in our most important work.

If that kind of power can exist in one home, imagine the force it would create when in every home?

There will be days that feel heavy and there will be times that we feel as if we can’t go on. But just as I have heard so many times since childhood, “time doth softly, sweetly glide when there’s love at home”.

I don’t know about you, but I could sure use as much of that as I can get.