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| The Island... |
| 10.14.04 (2:29 am) [edit] |
|
While it may be true that no man is an island; at the end of the day when the room is dark and our bodies find a place to rest we indeed come to a place where we are all alone; alone with our thoughts, our dreams and our burdens. In the light of day we hurry about… working our way through a maze of sensory and information overload. We travel from task to task taking in details, faces, and conversations. We hear but do not listen, look but do not see. If we bother to gaze into the eyes of the person sitting across from us it is rarely long enough to notice that behind those eyes is a soul crying out to be understood. We judge the waitress who confused our order, the clerk who lost our file, the old man who drives too slowly, and the aimless girl who no doubt has had little guidance—thank God she’s not mine. We choose to make it about ourselves and rarely stop to recognize that even the most unlovable among us has a story to tell; a joy or sorrow that needs to be let loose, said out loud and responded to. Lonely souls, tired souls, wounded and frightened souls, fighting for space to exist. Souls walking side by side with those who life has favored, the bright, the blessed, and the beautiful. We pass them on the street and it is like watching a slow motion replay of everything that we are not. There are times when I see teenaged girls in a mall eating junk food and laughing and I am overcome by tears. How is it that they are walking around carefree with a head full of long shimmering hair while my 16 year old is afraid to eat sugar lest her tumors grow faster and has had to watch her hair fall out not once… but twice? How can it be that we are sweating blood fighting against this cancer so that Ali can live; but, every 18 minutes someone, somewhere feels so hopeless and alone that they take their own life? How fair is it that I am lying in bed listening to Ali and her friends laughing on the front porch when somewhere there is a mother who would give the world to hear the sound of her child’s laughter just one more time? The truth is, there is no such thing as those that life has favored. Some people may appear to lead a charmed life but the truth is that everyone will be faced with their own private tragedy and they will be as varied as the people themselves. The only commonality in suffering is that in an instant everything we thought that we knew is altered and we gain a perspective that can only be understood by living through it. We discover the depth of our souls and the source of our strength. We re-examine our beliefs and the measure by which we judge others. Through adversity we understand the nature of human suffering and begin to recognize the look of pain in the eyes of strangers. Like fellow members of an exclusive club we share this bond… this mystical handshake… this revelation. A voice in our head and a spark in our heart that repeats over and over… I…am… not… alone. Someone has stopped long enough to look into my eyes and see that there is this thing… this huge, ugly, frightening thing gripping my heart and sometimes I feel as though I will not be able to take another breath. Someone who knows that a simple touch, a knowing smile, a gentle word of encouragement or a well placed silence can change the course of a day and when you least expect it you are not only breathing… but living… and not only living but living well. So, tonight as I lie here in my dark room, seeking rest for my body; I am reminded that we didn’t just survive this day… we lived it and we lived it well. We asked new questions, moved beyond a setback, sang a duet completely out of tune, waved at boys on a motorcycle, hugged a stranger who has found herself on a similar path, received a token of amazing generosity and witnessed an incredible lightening storm. The huge, ugly, frightening thing that sought to destroy us…hasn’t. God is good. He speaks through his people; a voice in our head, a spark in our heart, a mystical handshake. There are no thoughts, no dreams, and no sorrows that are too immense to be shared. No man is an island and in my joy or in my sorrow I am not alone unless I choose to be. |
posted by: Dariana (reply)
post date: 10.15.04 (8:00 am)
What an inspiring post. ((((((Huggs))))))
Grace, beauty, humor, strength.
Alison Haley Cloud
Nov. 16, 1987-March 1, 2005
