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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Chine McDonald

Good morning.

鈥淎 thing of beauty is a joy forever.鈥� These words open the poem Endymion, one of the most famous works of John Keats, who died on this day in 1821. Published in 1818, Endymion was one of a number of famous literary works written and published in the aftermath of 1816 鈥� The Year Without a Summer. During that year, the eruption of Mount Tambora in what is now Indonesia sparked months of strange climate as a large dust cloud of volcanic ash entered the atmosphere and caused disruption around the world.

During these dark days, the sun frequently disappeared and people were left living under a dark cloud. Winter went on and on, causing psychological and physical damage. I鈥檝e been fascinated by the story of 1816 since hearing about it. Amazed by the fact that though it was a dark year 鈥� a trying time for everyone 鈥� it seemed to have unleashed an air of creative genius into the atmosphere. It was around this time that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, that Byron wrote Prometheus and that Beethoven began his celebrated late period of composition. Beauty can come from darkness. The past year has seen us all living under a strange cloud of darkness. It has been tough, and there are times when it has been hard to believe that there will be an end to it.

But what I鈥檓 heartened by in the story of 1816 is that in the midst of such a trying time, there can still be pockets of beauty and creativity 鈥� signals of hope. We have seen this ourselves during the pandemic. Pockets of communities coming closer together, opportunities for people to show kindness and generosity, space for scientific and entrepreneurial innovation. These are things that I pray will live on into the new world, when the darkness ends. Lord Jesus, we pray for the world post-pandemic 鈥� help us to not forget the togetherness, the sense of hope, creativity and community and take it with us into a hope-filled future.

Amen.