We Were Made for these Times
This lovely piece was sent to me by my sister-in-law Lee and written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, American poet, post-trauma specialist and
Jungian psychoanalyst, and author of Women
Who Run With the Wolves. It deserves a slow, thoughtful read.
As always with the perfect pieces of wisdom passed on to me I am compelled to send this one back out to you--especially as it speaks to our strength to endure through difficulties. We all need to continue to support each other with love and compassion while encouraging strength in one another.
My Friends, Do Not Lose Heart
By Clarissa Pinkola Estes--American poet,
post-trauma specialist and Jungian psychoanalyst,
and author of Women Who Run With the Wolves
My friends, do not
lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently
who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of
affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often
righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized,
visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The lustre and
hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children,
elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is
breathtaking.
Yet, I urge you, ask
you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these
difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the
fact is that we were made for these times.
Millions of Boats of Righteous Souls on the Waters with You
Yes. For years, we
have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet
on this exact plain of engagement.
I grew up on the
Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened
souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are
right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal
one another as never before in the history of humankind.
Look out over the
prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you.
Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I
assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a
greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold
together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.
We Are Needed~That is All We Can Know
In any dark time,
there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended
in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency, too, to fall into
being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet
be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
We are needed, that
is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great
souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they
appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to
listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to
be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?
What is Needed for Dramatic Change is an Accumulation of Acts
Ours is not the task
of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part
of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can
do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world,
will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will
cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.
What is needed for
dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more,
continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice
and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the
first, second, or hundredth gale.
Stand up and Show your Soul
One of the most
calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to
stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The
light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires,
causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy
times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts
of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
Struggling souls
catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you
would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.
When a Great Ship is in Harbor and Moored, it is Safe~But that is not what Great Ships are Built For
There will always be
times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life,
but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to
eat from my plate.
The reason is this:
In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no
despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent
you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are
the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you
will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is
safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.
I know you're tired, but come this is the way. Rumi
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