With all of the attention that has been given to the events in the world today I find that many people are feeling despair.
I am reminded of Clarissa Pinkola Estes' "Letter to a Young Activist" written in the aftermath of the first Gulf war in 1991. Here is an excerpt from it:
"Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.
Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope
There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here."
Let us keep in mind that when we take the long view and see how far we have come we can trust the process that has brought us up to here.
I don't mean that we ignore the world conditions, it is just that the thing we can do that is the most helpful is not to despair. I, with Clarissa Pinkola Estes, hold to the belief that each one of us has been brought here for a purpose and we can trust the "one," the energy, the love to guide us in the words we speak and the actions we take and not give in to the despair.
I am reminded of Clarissa Pinkola Estes' "Letter to a Young Activist" written in the aftermath of the first Gulf war in 1991. Here is an excerpt from it:
"Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.
Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope
There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here."
Let us keep in mind that when we take the long view and see how far we have come we can trust the process that has brought us up to here.
I don't mean that we ignore the world conditions, it is just that the thing we can do that is the most helpful is not to despair. I, with Clarissa Pinkola Estes, hold to the belief that each one of us has been brought here for a purpose and we can trust the "one," the energy, the love to guide us in the words we speak and the actions we take and not give in to the despair.
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