Jesuits from Germany, Austria and Switzerland start the campaign "Nevertheless grateful!” With this, they are giving an answer to the increasing sense of crisis in the middle of the second wave of the Corona pandemic with the help of Ignatian spirituality. Here is one of the articles, punished in their websites.

The shock of time is in Niklaus Brantschen SJ's bones - "hopefully lasting", he writes. "And yes, it is possible to say yes again and again every day, or at least to try - and be grateful. Grateful people sleep better, are happier, less depressed. I am not saying that. New studies show that."

With all the crises that come with it, the Corona break also offers opportunities. During these weeks and months I can discover nature in a completely new way on walks around the Lassalle House in the heart of Switzerland, where I live and work. In spring, I noticed how the needles on the larch branches ventured out a little more every day, how the scent of bearberry rose into my nose from the edge of the forest, how now in late autumn the deciduous trees are thinning and forming buds with the last of their strength to be ready for the coming spring. In a hymn by the mystic and physician Hildegard von Bingen about the Holy Spirit, she speaks of the "green force", the evergreen spirit. For her the earth is green through and through, that is, full of life. Hildegard in the original version: "The spirit goes out, becomes greener body and brings its fruit. This is the life." I have experienced this anew.

The enforced time-out makes us think. The fright gets under my skin, it's in my bones, it lasts beyond the day - hopefully lasting.

I ask myself: What can I contribute in my old age to make something new visible? How can I nurture the new, young, fresh, hopeful in me as an old man so that it becomes contagious? I am old, our society is getting older and older. And yet, there is something in us that is older than all time and younger than the day. This is what I would like to convey in the years remaining to me. The eternal youth that makes us ever start anew. No longer of the same or more of yesterday, but more of life today.

In these uncertain times there may well be feelings of insecurity, of blockage, even of powerlessness. Unfortunately I have no advice for the distress of life. Advice, as we all know, is also a blow. But I can say from my experience that despite the limitations and handicaps we experience: It is possible to say yes again and again every day, or at least to try to do so. I too have my complaints, age-related ones, and still try to start each day anew and be grateful. Gratitude seems to me to be the most central human virtue.

Recently I have once again seen the connection between gratitude and well-being. At the beginning of the third millennium, there are some studies that prove it: People who are grateful feel better, are happier, less depressed. They suffer less from stress and are more satisfied with their social relationships. Grateful people sleep better. So it is advisable to ask yourself in the evening: What can I thank you for? If I don't find anything to be thankful for, it is helpful to be mindful of the next day and ask: How do I go through the next day?

With open senses and an alert heart, ready to be surprised - and grateful!

Niklaus Brantschen SJ