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I had planned to sit down and write a post last Tuesday after breakfast and then all hell broke loose. As you may or may not know, there was a terrorist attack in our nation's capital. (I can't believe I am even typing these words.) I won't go into details (you can google that yourself if you really want to know) but suffice it to say all thoughts of updating my blog were wiped from my mind.
I am still trying to absorb what happened. I kind of feel like I did in the wake of 9/11 where so much of every day life seemed trivial and superficial. I don't know that I feel like things can or should go back to normal and yet on some level, I know that we can't allow the darkness to swallow us up. We have to move forward.
I felt the need to post this to acknowledge the reason why words are hard to come by right now. I have some scheduled posts coming up early next week, but you'll have to forgive me if it takes me a bit longer to get back on track.
Meanwhile, I am reflecting on these words of wisdom:
"My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do."
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes
3 comments:
yes We must stand up and show our soul..our goodness..our joy..to shine on the darkness...take care..<3
I have been following along with the news since this happened. Thinking of you and all the Canadians!
Estes' insights were just what were needed to be said and shared here, and I've shared them with others reeling from this act of violence and violation. I try to remember how I dealt with the shock of 911, but all I can remember is the conversations I had with other people, asking after loved ones, expressing relief or consoling. It's difficult to turn from anger; these are people who can't be moved to mercy, so why should we not respond mercilessly? But the "small, calm things" are what ultimately take hold, or need to. To focus on the love that WE can feel and show for others is a kind of power. I can almost feel that slow, slow tipping. But I need to work at it.
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