Today I share these inspiring words from L.D. Carter, President Board of Trustees, Unity on Greenville
It was going to be so easy to move to a darker place.
Helplessly watching the withdrawal from international movements to save Mother Earth and in doing so endanger the home planet for future humans. Tasting anxiety as an invisible sickness crept across the face of my country leaving in its wake the lost lives of hundreds and then thousands. And then realizing the emptiness of having no forum to mourn those missing souls. Watching in disbelief as armed Americans filled the streets of our city centers with the intent of taking back the country from whoever did not look like them. And for the first time, blind eyes opened to what has been historically true…Black citizens live at the mercy of systems, processes, and people dedicated to limiting the freedoms of people of color.
It was going to be so easy to move to a darker place.
Much more directly, more personally, eating out most nights of the week, as had become a habit, suddenly stopped. Invitations to gatherings to celebrate landmarks---birthdays, anniversaries, retirements---no longer came. Loved ones became voices on the phone and connectivity with them reduced to text messages and email. Whatever outward joy there had been now concealed by masks.
It was going to be so easy to move to a darker place.
All of the aforementioned and more would have been ample excuse to wallow in sorrow and hopelessness. But that was not and has not been my path. At one point I realized that my keeping some focus on what is really true, I can be grateful in this unusual window of time. Grateful for all that has presented itself. Here is what happened to me…
First, my prayer focus expanded. More opportunities to support people I knew and did not know in prayer presented themselves. Issues touching the very soul of our country now found their way onto my list more than ever. Because of this very different moment in the life of our nation I what held onto the fact that I could play an active role by changing the vibration through prayer. I could do something.
Second, my spiritual path broadened. Through the words of divinely inspired authors, the wisdom of the ages filled what would have otherwise been a depressed void. I took in new perspectives and at times became reacquainted with some that were almost forgotten. I am thankful there has been no time for a personal downward spiral because the words and insightful thoughts of truth speakers have reminded me that there is no place for it.
In addition to that, my focus on expressing gratitude evolved. This is an opportune time to give yourself over to what is missing/lacking because of our current crisis. So, keeping focused on gratitude has been especially important. And sitting with that so intently over these months, focusing on being grateful for what all I have been blessed with, the idea that I have enough has solidly presented itself. I am clear that my true joy has always been in giving away the very things that have blessed me. I go back to a post-COVID world armed with that idea.
So, when the dust settles and we can see 2020 clearly in the rearview mirror, it will be easy to remember the bad, the difficult, the ugly, the sad. But I will also be reminded that staying the course and being rooted in what is really true about the workings of the universe is what will have made this 2020 journey a time of growth and evolution. And for that part of 2020, I am grateful.
---L.D. Carter (November. 2020)
Let the blessings of the Advent Season begin,
Rev. Karen