The Strength in Your Heart…
“Rise, and find the strength in your heart. Rise, and find the strength in each other.”
—Chelan Harkin
Previously sharing in a newsletter Chelan Harkin’s poem, It’s When the Earth Shakes (see below), and acknowledging the power of quotes, poems, and images that inspire us, I returned her wise words to pride of place on my refrigerator door.
Depending on how I’m feeling in the moment, a different stanza calls to me and fills me with hope each time I re-read it.
What fills you with hope despite the chaos in the world, the personal pain in your heart or body, or the exhaustion from one more challenge you’ve been asked to face? What strengthens your heart?
“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”
— Khalil Gibran
Gathering on Sunday afternoon with some of our Giving Circle donors, I found my spirit refreshed by the joy of connection, the laughter from stories shared, and the delight of celebrating a birthday (over cake and ice cream) with one of Eremos’ longtime friends.
Sometimes we need the solitary communion with nature and the Holy One on a walk or in meditation or prayer, but other times our heart is best served and strengthened in community, in shared experience.
Whatever your heart is calling for to bring you back to a space of hope, peace, and gratitude, I encourage you to make honoring that call a top priority. For your strong heart offers a firm foundation for your light to shine through the fear and chaos.
May you be blessed by a strong inner voice guiding you to the ideal ways to refresh, renew, and strengthen your beautiful heart. And as its light is rekindled with each act of self-care, may you realize the blessing you have become to this world just by being here.
The Strong Heart…
“It is the nature of the strong heart, that like the palm tree it strives ever upwards when it is most burdened.”
—Philip Sidney
We Have Them!
“Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved country.”
―William McKinley
Despite Everything
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank
It’s When the Earth Shakes
It’s when the earth shakes
And foundations crumble
That our light is called
To rise up.
It’s when everything falls away
And shakes us to the core
And awakens all
Of our hidden ghosts
That we dig deeper to find
Once inaccessible strength.
It’s in times when division is fierce
That we must reach for each other
And hold each other much
Much tighter.
Do not fall away now.
This is the time to rise.
Your light is being summoned.
Your integrity is being tested
That it may stand more tall.
When everything collapses
We must find within us
That which is indomitable.
Rise, and find the strength in your heart.
Rise, and find the strength in each other
Burn through your devastation,
Make it your fuel.
Bring forth your light.
Now is not the time
To be afraid of the dark.
―Chelan Harkin (Note: link takes you to awakin.org to an interview with Chelan)
