“We are given mistakes,
We are given nightmares,
And our task is to turn them into poetry.
And were I truly a poet,
I would feel that every moment of my life is poetic,
Every moment of my life is a kind of clay I have to mold,
The actual poet’s task is true for the poetic Spirit in everyone,
The work of giving form, expression,
To everything that happens,
This discovering and revealing meaning,
‘the pattern of glory’
Discovering that all experiences, light or dark,
Are stars,
And take their place in the constellation of wholeness.”
— Journals of Helen M. Luke
Throughout the world and certainly in the United States of America, amidst poverty, the pandemic, cold, hunger, uncertainty, inequality and doubt, something wonderful has been enkindled by a young woman with a poem: Hope. Hope is a gift. It is not logical. It is not based on fact or built out of material. It is a light which breaks out of the darkness. It is a good and wonderful power in human beings.
Once the guiding star of grace appeared over the place where the Jesus child was. This gave the people who had been waiting for the Messiah great hope. This star of grace has been radiating to the people on earth ever since then. But we lose sight of it. It seems to “pull back” just when we need it most. What can we understand about this?
There is beautiful inside-outness that accompanies spiritual truths. What was once outside is now inside us. We can come to find that the light of grace recedes and has been imparted to us as inner light, as hope.
Our inner light has to “catch” the light of another. We have to “love “ the light out of others and refuse to do otherwise. We have to see the light in the darkness of closed minds and hardened hearts. We can be brave enough to “be the light” if we have complete and utter faith in the intrinsic goodness in every person, no matter what the outer picture seems like.
Father Greg Boyle, who has worked tirelessly and lovingly with violent gang members in LA for the last 35 years, is often asked by innocent admirers, “When do you introduce Christ to the gang members?” His answer is : “I don’t. They introduce Him to me.” Inside-outness.
In “Stories that heal” Rachel Remen writes: “People who have sought healing everywhere else are often afraid to look within, afraid to find, at depth, someone insignificant, or even unworthy. Yet, this is rarely the case. The soul is our birthright. At depth, everyone is beautiful. Often it is the discovery of the ‘spot of grace’ that heralds the beginning of our deepest healing.”
May our hope be enkindled. May the Star of Grace penetrate our hearts, bringing insight and healing in recognition of the light in every human being.