Good morning…
Just after sending you yesterday’s photo of the frigid, frozen Norwegian landscape outside one subscriber’s front door, I opened Henri Nouwen’s morning message to be greeted by the luxurious photo above. What a gorgeous contrast. Land, white snow versus green grass. Sky, winter grey versus springtime blue. Feeling, chilly cold versus welcoming warmth. God’s breathtaking beauty comes in varied, vibrant, visceral forms.
Two lines linger from yesterday’s message, Our Wider Community. “Until we enter boldly into the fears we most want to avoid, those fears will dominate our lives,” writes Parker Palmer. “But when we walk directly into them – protected from frostbite by the warm garb of friendship or inner discipline or spiritual guidance – we can learn what they have to teach us.”
This image, sent to me recently by a woman following her Al-Anon meeting, talks with us about our response to the inevitable fear of this uncertain time. “Who do I want to be during this Covid-19 crisis?” is a key question to ponder very personally.
We can stay trapped in our FEAR ZONE, locked inside our heads, frozen, frigid, forfeiting our freedom to sense the fruit of God’s Spirit blooming within and among us. We can venture out into our LEARNING ZONE, stop compulsively consuming news and worry, “should’s” and “have to’s,” excess food and drink, letting go of the things we simply cannot control, and moving through our mixed emotions without getting stuck, stagnant, swamped. We can expand into our GROWTH ZONE, embracing God’s wider purpose for us, cook or caregiver, peacemaker or prayer warrior, loving listener or rested responder. We each personally respond to a daily invitation to wholeheartedly love God FIRST, before we quietly love ourselves and others. In God’s abundant economy, we nurture from overflow, not from emptiness.
Gratitude in the moment can spread just as quickly as fear, so why not focus our full attention on practicing peace, giving creatively, and living and loving with the compassion of Christ? During this unpredictable period of pandemic, may this be said of us? They will not be afraid when the news is bad because they have resolved to trust in the Eternal (Psalm 112:7, VOICE).
…Sue…
