Today in Punxsutawney, PA, the annual Groundhog Day festivities, made famous in the 1993 Bill Murray movie of the same name will take place. Some believe this local annual winter forecasting determined by whether a certain Groundhog sees his shadow or not. I have never been too interested in this weather forecasting system, but at times over the past year have felt that the movie was symbolic of the year we all have endured and continue to experience in many ways. 

The plot of the movie basically traps the Bill Murray character into reliving Groundhog day over and over again until the spell is eventually lifted. He must endure the same mundane characters and events repeated daily.

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, our entire world has experienced some version of this movie. Normal life has stopped, and it seems like every day is just a repeat of the previous day with the number of cases and deaths from this terrible plague continuing to grow.

We like the main character of this movie cannot make this repeat cycle go any faster or end any quicker, but hopefully we like this character might also use this period of “stopped time” to grow and become our true best selves. I pray that when we all wake up to a new day after Covid-19 is finally lifted that we may still embrace and live some of the life lessons, we hopefully have learned during this time. 

Maybe we will cherish our families and loved ones a little deeper and never again take for granted the gift of being able to gather as one. Maybe we will continue to realize that many of the most important heroes in our world are the ordinary people who day after day simply show up to work and provide basic but essential work for all of us. Maybe we will treasure more deeply what we have and stop longing for all that we really don’t need.

Our world’s Groundhog Day movie will hopefully end soon. How will you be changed for the better when this long-suffering spell is finally lifted?