Day 21
Despite darkness: nothing can separate us.
Spend time with the photo
Photo credit: C. Kemner
Do not be afraid of the pain you feel for the world. That pain is not over-sensitivity, but a wellspring of energy for the transformation of our world.
It is a privilege to be alive at this moment. We have a chance to take part in something unprecedented—the conscious transition to a life-sustaining society.
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The great awakening of our time involves seeing the heart-breaking reality of our world and also experiencing our own humanity, our deep interconnection with all life.​
We have received an extraordinary gift: to be alive at this moment, when the Earth is calling us to become conscious participants in its transformation.
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from Joanna Macy, renowned environmental activist, author,
and scholar of systems theory and Buddhism,
who has spoken and written extensively about embracing the pain
of our ecological and social crises
while maintaining hope.
She authored Active Hope:
How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy.
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So
now I live with the confidence
that there is nothing in the universe
with the power to
separate us from God's love.
Romans 8:37-39
Here are two special treats:
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Listen to Joanna Macy read her translation of a poem from Rilke's Book of Hours:
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God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
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And Psalm 23 also reminds us,
"Surely..." nothing can separate us.
Treat yourself: go find Bobby McFerrin's unique setting of the 23rd Psalm, dedicated to his mother, and listen to it.
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