Dear TSJ Peeps…
What a week! Do you ever have those weeks when so many things 
happen that you are sure it was two weeks ago that such and such happened and it was just two days ago? Some weeks get that full, don’t they? And sometimes they seem packed because of so many passing feelings that accompany different events and experiences. And feelings can take up a lot of space somehow and either cause us to become immobilized or propel us into action and soar. . . and everything in between.
For me (and several of you) this week has been packed not only with work and activity but intense feelings. I know because we have talked.
My own week has carried with it a wide array of emotions – from extreme happiness to great sadness and everything in between.
On the happiness scale, I was privileged to attend a graduating nurse pinning celebration for our daughter’s beautiful and kind stepdaughter. Last weekend was a time of deep feelings of pride and love for our children. And specifically our step grandaughter. She earned a bachelor’s degree with concentration in nursing studies. It took work, struggles, money, tears and fears from time to time, but on that day of her pinning she was in pure happiness mode. As were all who love her. It was worth the work. And perhaps it was even more meaningful because it did take some levels of sacrifice and suffering. That seems to be what makes the earth journey simultaneously mysterious and magnificent for us humans.
From that event to a more recent event things shifted within us. As it turned out, a few days after this delightful time of happiness, we learned one of Tom’s best “buddies” with whom he worked for about forty years died suddenly at age 65.
My children, I, and several of Tom’s friends, have been reeling from this event. It awakened a great sadness again within us. We find comfort, of course, in imagining them together on the other side having a mischievous time. But the loss is real. They went out to lunch together almost daily during those work years. They told family stories and gossiped about the stupid things that happen in corporate America. They talked about fishing, politics, golfing, the stock market. Together they did what all good friends do.
Solomon says that loss, suffering, heart ache and heart break are all part of living in God’s green pastures. But they only are real because we know their opposites. Imagine their contrast such as the joy of birth, parenting, creating, falling in love, celebrating successes, as well as learning and playing. These things make us happy.
If we didn’t know happiness I guess we wouldn’t know sadness. If we didn’t know love we would not know loss. When you love doing something you work extra hard at it and do not call it work. When you love someone you also work extra hard to maintain harmony. Love is like that.
So let us be thankful for all that is “bright and beautiful” as we slide into a long weekend to celebrate Memorial Day. May each of you find some blessing in something that seems otherwise troublesome and may you learn that no matter what you are experiencing right now.
And I believe when you look back you will discover you learned something. With that little lesson you can move forward with more courage and compassion, hope and comfort.
Have a great weekend.
