This poem came to me, I believe, as a kind of counterbalance to the necessary activism of this moment in our country’s history. Each of us needs to take any actions we can to help thwart the encroaching authoritarianism of the Trump administration and to reclaim this country that we love. As a person of faith, I also rest in the knowledge that there is a Divine intention within all of creation, and that a part of my calling as a human being is to cooperate with what the Spirit is already doing in the world. There is a certain peace that comes in remembering that I am one among many who are doing this work of repairing the world, and that each of us brings our gifts to offer to the One who is Lord of all Creation.

A Familiar Peace

A light mist lingers over the prairie,
releasing the purest scent of fall – 
a fragrant offering spreading gently
over the wild greening fields.

This land holds a familiar peace,
nestled among these forested hills,
as pillowy clouds in shades of gray
drift unhurried across the noiseless sky.

No threat of storm, 
no approaching calamity,

only the quiet calm of morning,
the silence nearly audible,

an invitation 
to breathe. 

What blessing rests here
in the early hours of this day

to believe that all will be well,
in the fullness of time, 

to imagine this world mended 
and made whole.

Mark Lloyd Richardson
September 2025