Today’s Earth Day. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, as a way to create awareness about environmental issues and as a way to “keep the earth clean and green.” What a beautiful day outside to celebrate Mother Earth. Deep blue unclouded sky. As the day progressed a few wispy clouds joined the celebration but quickly dissipated. Mid afternoon I saw a single cloud that looked just like God dropped a cotton ball from a plastic bag of cotton balls. Perfectly barrel shaped with little tufts on the top. Should have taken a photo of it but I just watched as it floated by. The birds are flitting around singing songs in harmony with Mother Earth. The birds are grateful for the joyous day and grateful to Patty (my grandchildren’s nickname for me) for the bird feeders and bird baths.

The Earth is happy. The sun is hot and bright. Every 24 hours enough sunlight touches the earth to provide energy for the entire planet for 24 years. That big ball of fire in the sky is powerful. Almost blistered my arms sitting in the swing this afternoon. I was inspired by nature’s beauty and started thinking about how the sun and the sky represent life. The Sun represents the cycle of life. The sun gives life but she needs the rain clouds to sustain life. The dawn of day brings light and life and the setting sun at the end of day brings the end of day, symbolizing death. The setting sun need clouds to make a beautiful sunset.

We are the sky. We have sunshine days of happiness and purple cloudy days of sadness and grief. When clouds and storms fill our lives we know the sunlight is behind the clouds and we wait and pray and the clouds are lifted and the sunlight flows back. We gravitate to the warmth of the sun. Watch a patch of sunflowers on a sunny day and you’ll see the power of the sun as the blooms follow the sun. My grandchildren were fascinated watching the sunflowers follow the sun last summer.

A rainbow needs rain and sunshine to prance out after a storm and hug the horizon. Our lives can rebound after disappointments, a tragedy, or a storm of grief. We need cloudy days to give us a new perspective to appreciate all the sunny days of life and to learn we can once again have the happiness of blue skies. Research says the sun symbolizes “power, growth, health, passion, and the cycle of life.”

Just as the sun rises each day we are reminded that we can all rise from the darkness. I know those parents of the children killed in the shooting in Dadeville are living in a nightmare of a dark thunderous storm. But eventually a small ray of sun will poke through the clouds and they will begin putting one foot in front of the other making their way through the world again. They’ll walk a different path now but the warmth of the sun on their faces will be a reminder of their children’s love.

Don’t let yesterday’s clouds and shadows spoil the sunshine of tomorrow.

To Mother Earth and all my friends and loved ones, I give you this Apache Blessing —“May the sun bring you new energy by the day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.”