From the Idiosyncradeck, the Five of Stones (Pentacles); from the Mixed Emotions deck, Encouraged:
Beneath our clothes, our reputations, our pretensions, beneath our religion or lack of it, we are all vulnerable both to the storm without and to the storm within...
— Frederick Buechner
A once massive stone has been worn away, weathered by wind and water. People can get worn away too in dealing with the challenges they face. I've noticed how easy it is to blame the person struggling with life, insisting it was their own unwise choices that got them to this place. But underneath that, perhaps even unconscious, is the fearful knowledge that that could just as well be us. Sometimes life opens a crevice beneath our feet and we fall in. 'Encouraged' suggests we look toward our resources - people or things that could support us and give us hope. I've found that an ongoing gratitude practice is helpful because it reminds me of the many things I have that might be useful. It also helps my confidence if I remember how I've met (or even survived) past challenges. But the best advice in these situations comes from John Wooden: "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
On my JudgyMuch side I continually say to myself when observing a panhandler, who always seem to be smoking, "If you can afford cigarettes you have more money than I do". On the other side of the coin, when I look at the tent cities as we drive through Portland I try to put myself in that place and figure out how I would live there. And why beside the freeway??
ReplyDeleteI understand. I'm trying to retrain myself to remember that what I see does not take into account all that has transpired to get a person to that place. But for the grace of the universe...
DeleteThe Berry College Eagles are back. Repair what the Wind and Time have done to the nest. Hopefully the young mother will do better this year.
ReplyDeleteI've got my fingers crossed that they'll have success this year!
Delete