Tired of the Darkness?

Create Light

“In general, it doesn't feel like the light is making much progress. It feels like death by annoyance. At the same time, the truth is that we are beloved, even in our current condition, by someone; we have loved and been loved. We have also known the abyss of love lost to death or rejection, and that it somehow leads to new life. We have been redeemed and saved by love, even as a few times we have been almost destroyed, and worse, seen our kids nearly destroyed. We are who we love, we are one, and we are autonomous.”

Anne Lamott (Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, p.2)

Thank God, Anne Lamott has a new book out! Her writing has saved my life more than once, and this one is about HOPE! It couldn't come at a better time. She writes about that confusing intersection between the dark, apocalyptic goings on of this time—the rise of neo-Nazism, white nationalism, conspiracies about a dark state—and the everyday joy that is all around us. Roses growing on a windowsills, children playing in the yard. But, most of all, she writes about love—love lost and found, love in spite of loss, love surrounding every bad thing that happens. I saw that this week at the prayer vigil for the people killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Sometimes the darkest times bring out the brightest light in people.

Since our only hope for new life comes from loving one another, and not allowing anyone to feed us a steady diet of fear and despair, we must realize one thing—love is a verb. In fact, it is an active verb. We must “do” love, not just feel it. We must be aware of when we are sowing fear, and replace it with compassion. We can recognize the darkness without handing over our souls to it. We can keep love the focus, so that even when atrocities happen, we do not fall into the trap of hatred. An affirmation for our time might be: “Today, I will not be tarnished by hatred. Today, I will do all in my power to sow love.”

The progress of the light may be slow, but the speed with which it comes is determined by us. As each of us turns away from the fear and negativity of our time, the light of love and hope will grow. Be that light today.

                                                               In the Spirit,

                                                                   Jane