“Be tender with your little ones, O God,
Steady our souls as we learn to live.” from common prayer
Where do you need God’s gentle touch?
Be Tender
Death
“Death is part of a much greater and much deeper event, the fullness of which we cannot comprehend, but of which we know that it is a life-bringing event. . . . What seemed to be the end proved to be the beginning; what seemed to be a cause for fear proved to be a cause for courage; what seemed to be defeat proved to be victory; and what seemed to be the basis for despair proved to be the basis for hope. Suddenly a wall becomes a gate, and although we are not able to say with much clarity or precision what lies beyond the gate, the tone of all that we do and say on our way to the gate changes drastically.” Henri Nouwen
How does the gate change our perception of death?
Doing nothing
“One of the greatest of spiritual attainments is the capacity to do nothing.” Dallas Willard
How do you know God’s embrace?
Soul work
“Grief work is soul work. It requires courage to face the world as it is and not turn away, to not burrow into a hole of comfort and anesthetization. Grief deepens our connection with soul, taking us into territories of vulnerability, exposing the truth of our need for others in times of loss and suffering.” Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Borderland
Borderlands are
spaces where two cultures and narratives meet,
continuously changing landscapes,
places of disorientation and reorientation.
Encountering the other
with potential for unimaginable violence
or creative mutual transformation.
How do we navigate spaces that threaten to take our breath while also promising new life beyond our imagination?
Through the storm, through the night…
“ Those who have died have never, never left
The dead are not under the earth
They are in the rustling trees
They are in the groaning woods
They are in the crying grass
They are in the moaning rocks
The dead are not under the earth” Sweet Honey in the Rock
How do we learn to carry our grief? How does grief as a vital ongoing conversation accompany us throughout life? What spaces does grief open up?
With the Eyes of the Heart 