In late June, I attended the Sisters of Mercy Institute Chapter in Buffalo, New York. About 300 Sisters of Mercy gathered to discuss current issues, set future direction and elect the Mercy leadership for the next six years. Among the 300 were Sisters of Mercy from Jamaica, Guam, the Philippines, Belize, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Guyana, Panama, Honduras and the United States. In reflecting on my experience, three basic themes emerge:
Years ago I read about the “butterfly effect,” the theory that the flap of a butterfly wing in Tokyo may affect a tornado in Texas. As I thought about it, I understood that small events in one place can have a much greater effect somewhere else, and small events now may impact events at a later time. Somehow this reverberates in my head lately as the environment continues to be under siege in our country.
Ann Grasso, whose exhibit, “Begging Bowls, Offering Bowls,” is currently on display in our Mary C. Daly RSM Art Gallery, included with her artwork a poem by Stuart Kestenbaum called “Holding the Light”: