… watching for the brushstrokes of God
“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?
“My grief says I dared to love, that I allowed another to enter the very core of my being and find a home in my heart. Grief is akin to praise; it is how the soul recounts the depth to which someone has touched our lives.” Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
How has your soul been touched deeply?
Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.” Jan Richardson, The Cure For Sorrow
What do you discover beneath the chaos?
“…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?
Do not hurry. as you walk with grief; it does not help the journey.
Walk slowly. pausing often: do not hurry as you walk with grief. …
Take time, be gentle as you walk with grief. From Northumbria Prayerbook
In these months of covid the big and small losses add up. What are you grieving?
“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 