I think that right now in the United States, our biggest problem is we keep asking ourselves the same question. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? And we’re doing it in our rooms by ourselves. And enough of that. We should be talking to one another. It’s not what will I do, or should do, but what should we do?

Elaine Mary Wainwright, Sister of Mercy and eco-feminist biblical scholar, died on July 5, 2024. She was a woman of valor whose spoken words of wisdom touched the hearts of the many . . . It has been a privilege to share with Elaine a commitment to Mercy life and to biblical scholarship for the sake of planetary transformation.

But, no matter, relationship is what makes us truly human, and to be truly human we need to be present to one another. We are persons with feeling and emotion, and we respond to the human presence, feel the human touch, hear the human voice, see the human tears, listen and understand the human fears.

We are still so locked away. / The words get locked away too. / And this is what poetry can do. / It can give me back to you.