Journal of Sacred Work

Today's meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice President for the Baptist Healing Trust.

The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say, "What are you going through?"  – Simone Weil (1909-1943), French philosopher, Christian mystic, social activist.

     In yesterday's journal reflection, Erie Chapman and those whose comments followed suggested the act of presence as a means to relief and hope in the face of great pain. The power of being together is transforming, yet the very nature of being together in small groups in our places of healthcare reverts to 'meeting' mode and 'getting things done.' We've all experienced meetings that were regarded as 'a waste of time' or, conversely as 'highly productive.' Contrary to the question "when will it end" is the exquisite and wonder-filled experience of time that evaporates when just being with someone, and perhaps especially when nothing is 'getting done.'

     Wendell Berry (1934 -  ) is described as an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, short stories, poems, and essays. In a collection of essays, titled "What Are People For?, Berry speaks to the grace of health and healing that emerges from our encounters with one another:

The grace that is the health of creatures can only be held in common.

In healing the scattered members come together.

In health the flesh is graced, the holy enters the world.

And later he writes:

We clasp the hands of those that go before us,

And the hands of those who come after us.

We enter the little circle of each other’s arms

And the larger circle of lovers,

Whose hands are joined in a dance,

And the larger circle of all creatures,

Passing in and out of life,

Who move also in a dance,

To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it

Except in fragments.

     Community matters, and it is from community that healing happens, albeit in bits and pieces of the dance we spin from the music we cannot hear with our ears. Rainer Maria Rilke exhorted us to "Live the questions now." In a place of healing, some of the important questions are "How do we choose to be together?" and "What do we want to create together?" Author Peter Block asserts depth is of more value than speed, and relatedness more important than scale. Yet depth takes time and asks a willingness to engage. Creating a sense of belonging requires the courage to set aside our usual notions of action and of measuring success by the numbers affected. "It also means that while we keep our own points of view, we leave our self-interest at the door and show up to learn rather than to advocate," writes Block.

     I wonder what we, the readers of this journal are learning. What do we want to create together?