You are a light

I saw a friend at the grocery store today.
”You look tired.” he said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Yesterday was a long week.”
These days are dog years for human beings with working empathy.
(Thank you John Pavlovitz)
Yes, it is easy to get discombobulated. Off-kilter. Out of sorts. Wondering about true north.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

So. Where to begin?
Kathleen Norris writes about her niece (in her book Acedia and Me). When her niece was three, Kathleen’s brother would drive her to day care in the morning, and her mother, who worked as a stockbroker and financial planner, would pick her up in the afternoon. She always brought an orange, peeled so that her daughter could eat it on the way home. One day the child was busying herself by playing “Mommy’s office” on the front porch of her aunt’s house, and Kathleen asked her what her mother did at work. Without hesitation, and with a conviction to relish, she looked up and said, “She makes oranges.”
I love this story. In our world, where what you do (achievement, power, celebrity, notoriety), makes you “somebody,” “making oranges” doesn’t compute.
Let’s just say, we do need a different way to measure. Because here’s the deal: Maybe success is about making oranges.
Okay, you want my litmus test?
Here’s what I want to bring to any moment, or any encounter (in the “time that is given us”).
–Showing up.
–Being present, wrapped in empathy.
–Enabling the power of connection and healing, fueled by kindness.

I like David Brooks’ reminder about how we measure what really matters. “The system had become so instrumentalized—how can this help me succeed?—that deeper questions about meaning or purpose are off the table, questions like: how do I become a generous human being? How do I lead a life of meaning? How do I build good character? The rationalists assumed that whatever can’t be counted and measured doesn’t matter. But it does.”
I am now reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s, Letters and Papers from Prison. He writes, “Experience has rendered us suspicious of human beings, and often we have failed to speak to them a true and open word. Unbearable conflicts have worn us down or even made us cynical. Are we still of any use? We will not need geniuses, cynics, people who have contempt for others, or cunning tacticians, but simple uncomplicated, and honest human beings. Will our inner strength to resist what has been forced on us have remained strong enough, and our honesty with ourselves blunt enough, to find our way back to simplicity and honesty?”
This hits me at my core. “Are we still of any use?”
If we are unsure of the answer, it is no surprise that being out of kilter takes a toll. This is why I am so grateful for the reminder. We are invited, each day, to be invested. To live this moment embodied.
–Showing up.
–Being present, wrapped in empathy.
–Enabling the power of connection and healing, fueled by kindness.

On the days when public opinion pesters, I keep this Parker Palmer quote close by. “It is a strange gift, this birthright gift of self. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.”
And in my heart I know that vocation is not just my job or calling, but the mark I leave and the place I take in this world. True, living into this authentic (embodied) self is neither easy nor managed by a checklist. But this much is certain: living into our authentic self begins with a whole heart.
I read this once, “she was reclaiming herself, alive in her own skin.” Yes, that’s it. At home in our own skin… Unabashed in a skin (a self) that feels, values, honors, esteems, loves, fears, desires, hopes for, believes in and commits to. With nothing to earn or prove, because life isn’t a race or contest or beauty pageant.
At home, I have a self to give; to be an anchor, a listening ear, a hand to hold, a hug to keep the heart alive. Invested in gentleness, goodness, graciousness, decency and dignity.
Like the little boy who said to his mom, “Momma, Momma, listen to me, but this time with your eyes.”

I’m also really enjoying the new biography on John Lewis by David Greenberg.
A reminder about Lewis’ gentle and steadfast persistence. One step at a time. One day at a time.
“You are a light. You are the light.” John Lewis wrote, “Never let anyone—any person or any force—dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates… Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.” (Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America)

I talked with the geese a good bit today. It is nesting season, and they’re hanging out at the pond that has been their nesting spot for the four years I’ve known them. And goslings will be born in a month or so. It made me smile real big.

Quote for our week…
“I had a choice: I could either let the darkness of the world swallow me, or I could do what I could to help make the world a little bit brighter.” Haruki Murakami

BULLETIN BOARD

Today’s Photo Credit: “Terry, I spent a leisurely afternoon, this week, visiting the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, as was the wisteria, and the koi fish enjoyed swimming under both canopies. So many moments to just pause and enjoy nature. Happy Spring!” Kathy Frost…. Thank you Kathy… And thank you to all, I love your photos… please, keep sending them… send to terryhershey.com 

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Letters that do my heart good…
–Hi Terry, For those of us who read Sabbath moments, As we read, take in and reflect on some or all that you write, What we read makes us want to be better persons. The next time I sit down with another person rather we meet in public or private I will remember “I’m the Shelter of one another” Todd
–Terry, Just received a card from you. Thanks! I’ve been enjoying Sabbath Moment for about five years, first receiving it from friends. Since then, I have followed that lead and passed it along to close friends and my sister. Thank you for all you do for so many. Sabbath Moment brings comfort, it soothes, it brings joy. Blessings to you. Larry
–I have loved this story of Frog and Toad for many years. As a teacher I read it and other stories of Frog and Toad to the children I taught. Through these characters Arnold Lobel teaches us much about life and the power of friendship. In the time we are currently living we are all badly in need of acts of kindness and understanding that friends give each other. Thank you for this simple, funny, delightful, profound story shared as a gift to us all. Maryann
–I would like to send you a donation. I’m 89 years young so I’m not great on donating on line I will mail my donation to the address I have of you thank you God is with you and you share it so generously with so many of God’s children like me. HE IS The air I breathe he “keeps me going someday he is both my pilot and Copilot. He also helps me find things that I do so automatically in my home of 44 years. This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be thankful. Kathleen
–Touching story, Terry… made me tear up.. it’s the concept here of “crying at the happy ending,” one of the most profound ideas / theories in my entire training and life. Michael
–Last week you spoke about a program on Netflix. “High on the Hog”. I watched it and I cannot thank you enough for suggesting it! It opened up so much for me. I had no idea. I thought I did, but I didn’t! Duh! I have turned on many of my friends to it also. You live the quote of Nelson Mandela. I am grateful to have Sabbath Moment in my life. You always open my mind to new things. I just want you to know how grateful I am. Merci, Yvonne