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A Story for How We Begin, Again
I hope the end of 2024 and the start of this new year have been meaningful for you, no matter how you’ve spent them thus far. I hope your chin is up, your face is determinedly toward the chill, and the wind, or rain, because that’s how it is in many places. And that you remember, most importantly, that you are not alone. We are here together, facing whatever comes personally and collectively. You have community; it is beloved, and so are you. Don’t forget that in this moment and in all the moments ahead when it might be quite easy to do so. Chin up. You can do it. WE are doing it.
Nearly two decades ago, while going through an especially difficult time, unsure of what might come next – whether it would be of benefit or the onset of more troubles, I let my youngest son know that what was most important was that we were creating the story we’d later tell about the time we were in. So, right now, we could choose the story we wanted to tell by choosing the story we wanted to create in each moment. And the story we’d hopefully tell someday would have less to do with what was happening around us and more to do with our state of being through it all: that we remembered who we really were, what was most important to us, and we honored it. That we were kind and lived our love for each other. That we did not give up or give in.
I intentionally offered no promise of ease and comfort by and by, for how could I? I offered only what I believed was a remedy, good medicine that would see us through. And it did.
We at ERUUF begin this New Year focused on the theme of Story. I find this very promising, because in each moment, we can create our story, choose how we’re going to be, how we’re going to deal, which means we have agency, and are not at the behest of anyone, or anything.
If you’re having difficulty believing that, just sit with it, and reflect upon it for as long as you might need.
So, what story are you creating at this moment? If you were an herbalist or maybe a compounding pharmacist, is the story you’re creating right now medicine that is seeing you through? What are its ingredients? Is it possible that your medicine might also see someone else through?
Rather than considering new intentions and goals, creating plans for how we’re going to address the onset of troubles in the coming year -- as there likely shall be for someone somewhere, if not all of us everywhere --, perhaps it might be useful to consider the stories we shall tell about how we are being with one another in this story of how we begin yet again, and how we come to better know and live into what matters most for us.
What might we tell about this time next year? In five years? In almost a couple of decades from now?
What stories will you pass on to your children, grandchildren, and perhaps even great-grands, and all the others who will follow, that long line of descendants who will learn how to be because of the story you’re creating? And – this is crucial – who reap the benefits of the story you create, that we choose to create, as medicine not only for ourselves but that has rippled out to others?
We are intentionally offering no promise of ease and comfort by and by, for how can we? We offer only what we believe to be a remedy, good medicine that will see us through.
May it be so.
Amen, Ashe.
Palms together,
Rev. Jacqueline
Remedies:
Reading: Radical Love by Satish Kumar
Listening to: Rooted and Free playlist on Spotify
Watching: Rediscover the Art of Cooking - The Great Courses Living (on Amazon Prime)
Bringing me joy: Cooking as spiritual practice.
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