“Far from being a progressive process, grief moves by turns and spirals, a twisting path because it is not always clear or orderly. Grief is the least linear thing I know.” Jan Richardson, Sparrow
What do you carry within you?
Twisting
Growing up
“By refusing to ask what was wrong, I was holding the fragile bubble of my world in my hand, protecting it by not questioning it, keeping it from shattering into a million fragments. I put myself into a state of arrested development by staying a child.” Madeleine L’Engle, Bright Evening Star
What are you willing to ask?
Winter storm
“My father always used to say, “Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument.” Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is always the best arbiter of what is right.” ― Desmond Tutu
How do you speak up in light of yesterday’s happenings?
Winter light
I am yearning for snow…fresh and untouched, a winter wonderland of stillness and peace that covers all the pain and grief of the past months.
What kind of space are you yearning for?
Compassion
“…going down into the deep pain of another is like jumping into a bottomless abyss – not knowing if or where one will land. To grasp another’s pain means letting go of our own safety limb and falling down to an unknown place. In this place we maybe won’t have the answers that will help alleviate the pain or explain it. We have to be willing to admit, then and there, down in the pit, that we too are helpless and weak and powerless. And who wants to do that, or be there?” Henri Nouwen
How are you called to presence with?
Wood hath hope
“Wood hath hope.
When it’s cut, it grows green again,
and its boughs sprout clean again.
Wood hath hope.
Root and stock, although old and withered up,
and all sunk in earth corrupt, will revive. … Wood hath hope.”
Caryll Houselander
Where is hope sprouting for you?
With the Eyes of the Heart 