22 Apr A time for collective grace
“There are some things in this world that we will never have an answer to that three letter question….why?.” I will never forget those words. It was February 20th, 2015. I was sitting in a pew at my friends funeral feeling angry, devastated and confused. I had no idea why her life had to be cut so short and the priest made no attempt to give us a reason. There could be no validation for her loss and I was so grateful he didn’t try and find any. He followed with “God didn’t need her more than we did, or more than her young son. God doesn’t need anyone. Sometimes there is just no answer.” Oddly, that gave me peace. We could stop searching for a reason that fit. We wound never find one.
It is mid week and a rainy day. I can feel the collective exhaustion from our community in the air. It’s been a very tragic week in our corner of the world and it’s hard to escape the weight of the sadness. Our community needs a big warm embrace which has been made more difficult considering we are navigating a worldwide pandemic and orders to stay apart. There is no guidebook for this and there is most definitely not a one size fits all solution. The world needs to heal and that also requires time to pass.
Fear and sadness is contagious but so is joy and love. There is so much strength in numbers and that is why it’s so vitality important right now for EVERYONE to give themselves some grace and allow for time to just be, to heal and to find joy in the simple things. Productivity and pandemic were never intended to be in the same sentence and especially in the wake of recent events, those words may need a trial separation. I believe with all my being that there is beauty up ahead. I really truly do…but I also believe now is not the time to feel like you have to change the world. Now is not the time to feel bad about a messy house, laundry piles, homeschooling or lack there of. It is not the time to feel bad for not having the head space to take up a new hobby, read books, renovate the bathroom or train for that marathon you thought you would do one day. Yes our schedules may have opened to some degree, but for so many of us our minds and hearts are tired and heavy. Boundaries or no boundaries, reading news or not reading news, we are not immune to what’s happening in the world and keeping ourselves a float through it all takes more work than most give themselves credit for. Let us take a collective rest and breathe. In doing so you will give others permission to do the same and a peaceful ripple effect can take place.
There is no reason that we will ever know as to why there has been so much tragedy lately. Let’s stop looking. What we can take from it though, is a message. We can’t ever stop loving and laughing. If we do that’s when we stop living and we can’t allow that. We now know more than ever how precious each day truly is. This is a time to turn to love, to look for light in dark corners and know that it still exists all around us, even when we can’t always see it right away.
Evil only wins if we let it extinguish hope. In memory of all that has been lost lately, let us truly honour those by never giving up on hope and love. We can do this. We will get through this. One day at a time.