Little leaves me speechless. Tonight I read an e-mail message saying that a 32-year-old woman, who was a part of my worship community, was murdered. I know no specifics. I did not have the privilege of knowing Carolyn.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
Today, I spoke at length with several people. Both women are legally blind. One woman is hostile at the world for all that has befallen her in her life. The other woman contributes to society from the root of her blindness.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
Hostility....cynicism....pity....
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
I listened to pity-filled, cynical, hostile woman for nearly two hours. I abhor pity. I cringe at cynicism's crust. I hate hostility.
Pity, cynicism, and hostility need not hover over the woman's spirit. I pray for the woman. She speaks of resurrection--belief in transformation. Yet, personal transformation--willingness--must go before resurrection. No magician's black hat, and wand. Personal transformation.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
I cannot--I will not--invest my brief life in hostility, cynicism, or pity. Certainly not all three.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
In hopes of nurturing some infinitesimal seed of transformation, I offered \a litany of personal challenges. A glimpse of what is possible, if only personal willingness is sacrificed for a greater good.
I do not know. I may never know. Did my litany of personal challenges pierce her self-pity, her crust of cynicism, and her heartfelt hostility. My style is not to meet self-pity with self-pity. That is not my style. Frankly, most of the time, I do not think of my personal challenges to be such, I have my moments as any other human being. Yet, until I meet someone who does not surmount their own--does not try--I must challenge them. Yet, at times, I must offer my litany as a hope-filled offering--a wake-up call. I slowed the pity, silenced the cynicism, and halted the hostility. But, for how long?
The second woman I spoke with today is a different spirit. We are alike in our abhorrence of self-pity. We disavow ourselves of cynicism's temptation. We have no time for such wallowing. Hostility? We have no hours to harbor hostility.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
We understand challenge. We surmount it, when possible. We claim no perfection.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
Carolyn, I am sorry I did not know you.
Life is a gift. It is a fleeting gift.
