Yesterday a social media post reported that a swan chick was trapped in the ice-covered Tjörnin, a lake in Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavík. Conservationist Kerstin Langenberger saw the post and replied, “I am on my way with the necessary equipment.”
She immediately set off on a rescue mission bringing thermoses of warm water and a surfboard (in case the ice was unstable). She gently poured warm water on the cygnet’s frozen feathers, rubbing away the ice to release him. Although he could easily have died, he was saved by concerned bystanders and a person with the necessary equipment. He flew off without any apparent injury.
We are living in a time of increasing horrors. Just as the stark danger of climate change is apparent in ever-increasing weather extremes and ocean warming —promises to cut down fossil fuel production and subsidies are broken. Just as we learn about the lifelong harm imposed by PFAS, microplastics, and particulate pollution — an incoming administration vows to eliminate regulations necessary to reduce these dangers. The list goes on — intentional harm to our civil liberties, to a sustainable environment, to freedoms considered essential all over the world.
Everyone I talk to feels overwhelmed by all that’s going on and all that’s coming. I think it will help if we focus rather than react to every outrage. If women’s issues or immigration or climate change or the genocide being perpetrated in Palestine are your top concern, hone down to read about and act on that one issue as a priority.
When I look around, I see all sorts of necessary equipment in use. A Dad Hugs shirt worn to Pride parades. Smiles brought by volunteer reading tutors. Handouts used in citizen testimony to stop Ohio’s mandated fracking leases at all state parks. Tea shared between groups from different religions. Paint and brushes brought to create a community mural. Household goods given away through local No Buy groups. Videos taken to document and report abuses. Chainsaws brought to clear trees downed by storms. Typewriters set up in public spaces for free poems written by request. Neighbors out walking to help find a lost dog. Shareable groups formed to create a walking school bus, a regular stranger dinner, and much more.
There are infinite ways we humans reach out to care for the world around us. Our experiences and abilities are exactly the tools needed. Rest up, breathe deeply, keep your pockets full of hope.
“I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transforming events take place.”
~ Rufus Jones
Laura Grace Weldon 
So beautiful, Laura. There are a million ways to create a more beautiful world. Every moment is fertile with possibility.
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“Fertile with possibility” is a beautiful way to envision it.
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As always, you add a voice of kind sanity to the cacophony. Keep singing your sweet chords of necessity.
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We’re all trying aren’t we? It’s just hard to keep our pockets stuffed with hope…
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So glad you posted this, Laura. Resistance begins with not giving into resignation and fear.
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Agreed on resistance, although I do find outrage a useful fuel at times!
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We’ve turned to nameless and unaccountable sources for the answers. God has ways beyond understanding. The smallest act of kindness in the name of God, holds exponential power. We are all equipped for something that God can use. My daily struggle is loving my enemies and turning away from thoughts of fear and retribution to faith that God turns all things to his divine purpose. Faith in hard times makes us stronger. It’s not easy. Reading the Bible helps to set my mind straight. I know God sees me trying and one verse leads to another. Thanks for turning thoughts of doubt to faith that there is an answer to everything.
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I love reflecting on “The smallest act of kindness in the name of God, holds exponential power.” Thank you so much Debra!
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Thank you, Laura.
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“I think it will help if we focus rather than react to every outrage.” Thanks for this practical reminder, Laura. The opposite of focus is distraction – which leads nowhere.
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Now let’s see if I can actually focus…
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I am quite enthralled by the idea of poems in public spaces… writing, reading, sharing…
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Me too, Kat! I’m particularly awed by my Poetry Free Cleveland friends who haul typewriters to events and type up poems by request, on the spot.
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Let it begin with me.
Things in high places are so far out of control everywhere that it takes more optimism than I have left to try and change the big things, but I can and will “bring the necessary equipment” to make small changes for good.
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You do, my friend, you already do.
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