Human Solidarity:
I am not alone in my tiredness or sickness or fears, but at one with millions of others from many centuries, and it is all part of life.
-- Etty Hillesum
It can be tempting when we are afraid, in grief, in stress, or ill, to experience our bodies as a liability, a vulnerability, or the place of pain. But we have a choice in those moments to also experience our bodies as the place of divine "yes". To see creation taking form as we move our hands across a page to make an image, pick up an instrument, write a poem, dance in our living rooms or on our balconies, or bake bread, we are reminded that God is moving through us, this flesh, in every moment. While fear closes us up, makes us freeze or flee, creativity and expression keeps us open, soft, receptive. When we are open, we can say Yes to the Holy moving through us, but we can also find a way to release things that could otherwise stay stuck inside. Whatever you do today, may you feel God moving through you. And if that isn't the case, may you know that others can experience you that way, and believe it for you, even if you can't seem to feel that about yourself.
-- Hillary McBride
Knowing some about her holocaust diaries, adds dimension for me to Etty Hillesum's observation above. Hillary McBride brings into perspective what I think it takes to survive (anything) in a healthy way.
