New Perspectives

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The human spirit is a marvelous thing.  Resilient, determined, courageous.  People’s response to trauma and difficulty rise up after being beaten down.  The collaborative effort of peaceful demonstrations in Egypt liberates a system, a country and opens the world to possibility.  Hope resists the temptation to throw it all away.

It is also true that the human spirit is fragile, broken and limited.  We hurt.  We hate.  We harm.  We are hurt, hated and harmed by others.  None of these go without their consequences and long term effects.  Patterns and behaviours lock us into a cycle that bears little resemblance to liberation.  We feel trapped or out of control.

Sometimes a long winter can create uneasiness in our spirit at this point.  Not enough sun.  Temperatures that keep us from being outside for too long.  Loneliness can creep its way through the cracks in our apartment, condo or home and bring a chill that sets into us like an uninvited guest.  Friends go away to warmer places.  Family doesn’t offer the warmth we need.  Winter isn’t the easiest time of year.

And yet somehow, some way, this spirit of being human prods us on.  With a big poke or a gentle nudge, we lead on.  We are led on, a day at a time.  Sometimes a day is too long.  An hour at a time, moment by moment, we trudge through this season of our lives.

The human spirit needs tending.  However strong or fragile we find ourselves these days, we are entrusted to each other, given to each other.  This being human is not a solitary experience.  Saugeen Shores is full of the human spirit:  a resilient and broken one, a courageous and limited lot, a broken and determined bunch of people.

How are we tending to each other?  Let’s go gently with ourselves too.

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Saturday, February 12, 2011