Photo Prayer: Sarah Insley-Say

March 2020: "Building houses for the fairies"

Childhood is both a blessing and a mystery: sacred time in the life of every person, which sanctifies the lives of those who have left it behind but are blessed to participate in it anew, walking alongside each fresh generation. We took this photo in another moment of catastrophic uncertainty and instability. It was a time so surreal that, six years later, it is hard to recall just how out of joint the world felt. And yet looking back I see the work of the Holy Spirit in this distillation of sacred time with our daughter (recently turned two), when the streets were silent, the courtyards empty, and we had the gift of open space to make dozens of houses for the fairies in a square that would normally be buzzing with stressed-out undergrads. 

Six years later, as we confront a time once again roiled with catastrophe, uncertainty, and raw evil, my prayer is for the world's children, our sacred companions on the way: that they may have space to welcome the fairies, and that they may teach us how to live deeply in the abundant gifts of God's creation. May we protect and cherish not only our children, but those the world over. They show us the way.