It seems that when this time of
year comes around, our hearts become a bit more melancholy. Is it the change in the weather, the falling
leaves, the colors that pop in nature?
Perhaps it is the bustle of the holiday season, the smiles of
contentment when the “perfect” gift is found,
and, most definitely the laughter of the children in the anticipation of
their holiday morning. Regardless of the
reason, I would feel safe in assuming that all of us have had at least one
moment, and probably many moments of melancholy.
What do we do with these
feelings? Over the past few weeks, I
have moved from feeling completely exhilarated to feelings of true sadness. It is an odd combination, and quite frankly
hard to explain. I find that reading a
few pages of a good book, or the opportunity to sit and listen to some soothing
music, can turn my feelings around quite quickly. I’m starting to feel that this is the Lord’s
way of reaching out to me to challenge me to reassess, ponder, and even more
importantly take action in different ways.
It’s discerning those ways of action that may be the true test.
I don’t think it is any surprise
that this recent political season, both before and continuing after the
election, has touched all of us in many different ways. It has been divisive to say the least, and it
has left many of us feeling saddened.
My depth of sadness is really not in the political issues at all. This time, I could care less about health
care reform, the economic policy, or our foreign policy. My discontent and sadness is truly only in
the hatred that has been embraced and endorsed.
I keep searching my soul for this, and I have been unable to find peace
on that front. My prayer is that this
has shed a huge spotlight on the hatred that is prevalent, and perhaps this
will challenge all of us to work to resolve these issues, or at minimum at
least acknowledge them. I have always
seen the world through rose colored glasses, but my eyes have been opened
widely, and it truly makes my heart hurt.
God calls all of us to live
boldly! Does boldly mean to be willing
to jump out of an airplane, or dive to the depth of the oceans? It could.
But, I’d rather view living boldly to mean things quite
differently. Living boldly could mean to fully embrace our current
moment. Sleep boldly, work boldly, laugh
boldly, cry boldly, play boldly, and most definitely pray boldly. Each
moment in our life is such a special gift.
Why would we not want to live every moment boldly? Just
exist boldly!! The hummingbird may be
our perfect example. Even though they
are tiny and delicate, they are deceptively strong. God does call all of us to live boldly!
We all have mentors in our lives.
Those people that encourage, inspire, teach, and nurture us. Some of our mentors may be in loved ones
that are no longer with us. The grief of
having lost these loved ones can be paralyzing at times, and even though they
may have been gone for a long time, any given moment can be as raw as the first
moment we lost them. But just as the
incoming tide wipes smooth the sand for fresh footprints, our memories also
become more vivid when our hearts are able to smooth the grief in our hearts. I
love this quote by novelist and philosopher, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “ It’s the
great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender
joy.” Quiet tender joy, living boldly!
In this time of melancholy, let’s
listen for our message. If we are called
to action for social justice, let’s embrace it.
If we are challenged with feelings that we don’t understand, let’s learn
from those feelings, and channel our responses in a positive manner. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, tutor a child,
sit with an elder, help someone that doesn’t know our language to understand it
better, and be excited in learning some of their language as well. Let’s listen to our hearts, when all of a
sudden, out of nowhere, we remember something a loved one may have said to us
in the past. Especially those times when
it was a teaching moment. If we really
stop and ponder, I bet we will acknowledge that most of our times spent with
our loved ones were truly teaching moments.
I read somewhere the following
words … I love them, and I wish I had written them … but I share now, “New
grows atop the old. Maybe not smoothly
but most certainly.” There is nothing
wrong with new. Our intention, our bold
intention, should be to make sure that the new that grows is good and
honorable.
God does call us all to live
boldly and with honor!
