It was a sacred day. The minister had said it was, and to all of us gathered at my father’s graveside, it truly felt that way.

On that beautiful, sunshiny spring morning, my siblings and our spouses had met outside the funeral home. From there we would accompany Dad’s body on its final journey. The official funeral home car with its yellow flashing lights led the way, and the hearse followed. The rest of us fell in behind for the half-hour procession over narrow two-lane roads to the rural cemetery. Along the way, a number of vehicles stopped as we passed by.

It was a touching reminder that respectful gestures still occur, at least in our small hometown community.

Once there, our brother and the brothers-in-law served as the pallbearers. After they’d carried and placed the casket at the gravesite, we gathered to stand beneath the awning for the brief service. It was unlike any service I’d ever attended. It was smaller, but it had to be because of COVID-19. We came to honor Dad’s life in a manner that was both simple and intimate. And despite the necessary restrictions of life in a pandemic, it felt so perfectly authentic and lovely.

Yes indeed, it was a holy day.

Those words of the minister resonated in my heart. Yet, it was the words he followed with that I’ve been holding on to in the days since. He said that when death comes, we become more keenly aware of the sacredness of days.

But in actuality, he continued, we need to remember that every single day is a sacred one.

Since we’ve settled in again back at home, I’ve been thinking of how I’ve been living in these days of quarantine. Most of my days are just a blur of uneventful moments at home with my husband and dog. I have to confess I’ve felt nothing holy about this time.

Like most people, my emotions fluctuate often. Although I try to stay upbeat, I have periods of feeling bored, lonely, and downhearted. There have been times when I’ve wallowed in fear and disappointment. And lately, I’ve accepted that, with no clear path forward, our lifestyle is unlikely to change any time soon.

With these recent reflections, I’ve come to believe most of my negativity is the result of my own ego. I’ve fallen into focusing on myself – my own desires and expectations. My runaway mind has created noise and restlessness, and that way of thinking serves no good purpose.

Now I realize I’m going to have to shift my focus if I want to find my way back to peace.

It’s time to release the fear and negativity that weigh me down. And so I return to the minister’s wisdom. From this moment on, I want to treasure each new day as the hallowed gift it is. Toward that end, I want to live with more intention, offering the world the best of who I am. I commit to using the hours I’ve been given to nurture others as well as myself. I vow to look for the Divine in all of nature and in every person and situation I encounter. I hope to use these challenging days as opportunities to go deeper and to center on living with a heart overflowing with love and gratitude.

Limited by my own human imperfections, I know I’ll often fall short of this ideal.

But I want to live mindfully enough that each time I falter, I can still find my way back to honoring the divine.

In challenging times and easier ones alike, I want to remember these words and live accordingly: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”