Placing Attention, by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

As the weather is changing

and the light is changing

and the birds at the feeder

in the yard are changing,

as the leaders are changing

and the way that we see

each other is changing,

I notice the invitation to turn

toward the truth

of what does not change —

something so vast, so unnameable ,

so unable to be grasped and held,

something so present

there is no life without it,

that knows itself

through you, through me,

through clover and tree and cloud

and goes on and on and on and on forever.

That. I turn again and again

toward that.

— opening poem chosen and read by Nancy L.

These photos were reminders to me that the light is changing but “that” is everlasting: ferns still grow, birds still migrate, weddings still happen.

— Photos and reflection by Kelly S.

The last several weeks I have had significant anxiety worrying about the future of our country and our world. Walking at Brookgreen this morning brought a deeper peace over me than I have not felt in some time. The light… the resurrection ferns… helped give me peace and hope. I recognized that I must begin to rest in that peace and gratitude so that I will have the energy to “resist” any injustices that may be within my power to resist. And I will turn again and again to that unchanging That.

— photos and reflection by Nancy L.