… watching for the brushstrokes of God
On Wednesday anointing oil spilled over in abundance. A woman is bringing a respite from the darkness of this week…a powerful blessing, a sign of extravagant love, the pouring out of the Spirit.
Where do you experience that anointing in your life?
“Don’t shrink. Don’t puff up. Just stand your sacred ground.” ~ Brené Brown
How do find that space?
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back. … ~ Khalil Gibran
Where do these lines take you?
At times our journey asks for courage as we choose the path ahead. Those are moments to pause and reflect: Where have we come from? Where are we going? What is required of us?
What do you see?
Hope and despair, truth and lies, narratives colliding, a country in shambles. How can we grow to see the truth of another person’s lived experience? Wonder what is going on inside them? Stay curious to how the world appears through their eyes? What would it be like to walk in their shoes?
Will we then know the things that make for true peace?
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
…
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
…
When day comes we step out of the shade
aflame and unafraid
The new day blooms as we free it
For there is always light
if only we’re brave enough to see it,
if only we’re brave enough to be it.
~ Amanda Gorman, excerpts from Inauguration Poem 2021
Are you brave enough?
With the Eyes of the Heart 