They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars--on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.
-R. Frost
I’ve often heard tell that this time of year can be the
hardest to face even when you have many blessings to count. It just feels like this time around it’s even
more painful than I recall it being in other years. It feels like tragedy is touching my life in
ways that dig deeper than the sad brushings of pain I can sense but cannot feel
as keenly as those engulfed and reeling in its wake. It seems it began as summer passed into
autumn, the days grew shorter, the wind grew chill..
I have said many times that life moves in ley lines that
sometimes arrange themselves in brilliant mosaics that leave us speechless and
thankful. Sometimes, though, the ley
lines carry naught but tears and the hitching of breath that never seems to be
enough to truly feel alive. As I wake to muted dark mornings and deep blue
nights, gazing up at sullen grey skies and endless expanses of stars, so many
around me are facing unthinkable pain. This is for them.
For Linda, who lost a nephew in one of the most inconsolable
ways imaginable…
For Karen, who lost an aunt who was also very much a friend…
For Holly, who lost a brother in arms who paid the ultimate
price…
For the Biddles and others, who lost a friend
whose smile brightened the world…
For FLCC and beyond, who reeled when his story
came to an end…
For those who have lost elders and youth, friends and family four-legged and two…
For Ben, whose family is straining against a dark cloud of fear
and heartache…
For Larry, who walked a path of uncertainty to bring his
mother comfort…
For Allison, who supports a son and a husband
who need all that she has to give…
For you, for your own battles and tears....
And for me…
For myself, I will hug my loved ones, appreciate my many
blessings, and smile as the snowflakes fall and the bells jingle. But I will also keenly feel the acute sense of loss and
heartache that faces so many that I love. It is the price one pays for wearing her heart on her sleeve and entwining others' lives into her own. I would not change it, but I will seek solace in what counts as prayer in my worldview...
May each of you – each of us – find solace in warm memories, good
friends, and the promise of brighter yesterdays and tomorrows both. May we hold on to our loved ones – the ones who are here, the ones
who are gone, and the ones who may leave us at any moment. May we love them – all of them, may we never shy away. May we never be afraid to love, to reach out, to
hold on.
Hand in hand, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, we will all
learn to smile again. Our strength lies
in one another - the rhythm of beating hearts, the light of love.
Let no one be lost, let no one be alone.
