Amid your labors,
along your road,
may there be sisters
to tend you
and welcome you in.
- Jan Richardson
Being able to tell our story, both the good and the bad, to someone who listens with compassion, helps to develop new, healthy, and whole stories--regardless of what prior experiences a person may have had. Telling stories that include both brokenness and blessing to a compassionate other, leads to empathic understanding of others and ourselves and interrupts patterns of intergenerational violence. When this includes the experience and knowledge of God’s loving presence within us and all around us, it can profoundly alter our sense of ourselves and our relationship to creation at the deepest levels.
Richard Rohr
Oh, that we each might be that “compassionate other” referred to by Richard Rohr! May it be so as we share our hearts and stories with each other, caring well for the hearts of others in a circle of friends, as well as for your own heart on this journey!
We are living in an unprecedented time in our world. There has been so much change, so much pain, and so much loss. We are holding a lot. And we are also holding our own stories of harm, betrayal, and abuse. It is staggering. Is it any wonder we are crying out for help, for support, for comfort? We need someone to truly listen, to attune to us (attunement is about understanding another’s inner emotional world. The window into another’s emotional world is their nonverbal communication - that is, their facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language.), to hold space for us to share, and honor our story.
We need someone to bear witness to some of the weight we are carrying and join us in our grief. This is an opportunity for anyone who is given the honor of hearing another’s story of struggle, wounding, and pain.
What if we are able to offer a safe and welcoming space for one who is hurting and courageous enough to share her story, to come alongside her, listen well as she shares? This is a sacred space. Holy ground.
