I Still Believe…
“Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness; the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.” —John O’Donohue
In light of devastating news stories and, perhaps, your own painful challenges, pausing to come back into awareness of the light that still shines and and can guide your hopes, beliefs, and actions through these tough times is truly life-giving.
Taking a moment to allow grace in and the Holy One to guide you through these days of “winter bleakness” into the inner light of spring can be the difference between sinking into despair and rising up into divine right action.
I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” ―Anne Lamott
What is mine to do we might ask ourselves once again in light of so much violence and devastation. Embracing the concept of Tikkun Olam might be a beautiful act of support and a wise approach to making a difference.
“The World is Broken, So Humans Must Repair It:
The History and Evolution of Tikkun Olam.”
―Title of an article by Jonathan Krasner on Brandeis.edu
Tikkun Olam—Hebrew for repairing the world—is considered “a cornerstone of their Jewish identity, a key reason they’re [American Jews] committed to making the world a better place,” says author Jonathan Krasner.
As my Jewish friends grapple with the latest horrific act of antisemitism while trying to celebrate Hanukkah, I can add my efforts to repairing the world with acts of kindness and compassion and connection with others. For I still believe in the power of an open and generous heart.
What do you still believe? What can you do today to make a difference? Let your heart and the mystery of grace be your guide.
May you be blessed with hope, faith, and belief in the light found in the human heart and may it guide you to act from that space in your interactions with others…helping to repair the world one heartfelt act of kindness at a time.
In Spite of Everything…
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Finding Hope
“Hope is not naive optimism but is rooted in the knowledge that God is at work, even when we cannot see it.”
—shared by Joe Barry in our recent Advent Retreat
Everyday Grace
It can happen like that:
meeting at the market,
buying tires amid the smell
of rubber, the grating sound
of jack hammers and drills,
anywhere we share stories,
and grace flows between us.
The tire center waiting room
becomes a healing place
as one speaks of her husband’s
heart valve replacement, bedsores
from complications. A man
speaks of multiple surgeries,
notes his false appearance
as strong and healthy.
I share my sister’s death
from breast cancer, her
youngest only seven.
A woman rises, gives
her name, Mrs. Henry,
then takes my hand.
Suddenly an ordinary day
becomes holy ground.
—Stella Nesanovich, featured in Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness & Connection, Edited by James Crews. You can learn more about Ms. Nesanovich at winonamedia.net
