Very thoughtful piece, Rachel. It didn’t go where I thought it was going, and that was good, as you wrote a story that was at once simple and complicated. In other words, it was like life.
A friend shared this with me. I am deeply moved by your description, by your bearing witness, by your quoting of James Baldwin and by the questions you ask. Thank you for sharing this deeply human story. It well expresses the intentions of this season of Christmas or Hanukkah or Yule or any other light and joy seeking holidays of this time of year -and indeed this time in history. We need to be the light. Even with nothing tangible to give we can offer compassion and the art of witnessing. Thank you. May you be healthy, safe, joyful and seen in this season.
This is beautiful. My parents brought me up in a (very loose) Catholic and Lutheran household, and then once I was a teenager they let me decide how much I wanted religion in my life. Fortunately the church really taught me some life lessons - sadly because of how poorly parishioners acted at times. But "kindness above all else" was a key one.
Very thoughtful piece, Rachel. It didn’t go where I thought it was going, and that was good, as you wrote a story that was at once simple and complicated. In other words, it was like life.
Thank you, Rachel ♡
A friend shared this with me. I am deeply moved by your description, by your bearing witness, by your quoting of James Baldwin and by the questions you ask. Thank you for sharing this deeply human story. It well expresses the intentions of this season of Christmas or Hanukkah or Yule or any other light and joy seeking holidays of this time of year -and indeed this time in history. We need to be the light. Even with nothing tangible to give we can offer compassion and the art of witnessing. Thank you. May you be healthy, safe, joyful and seen in this season.
This is beautiful. My parents brought me up in a (very loose) Catholic and Lutheran household, and then once I was a teenager they let me decide how much I wanted religion in my life. Fortunately the church really taught me some life lessons - sadly because of how poorly parishioners acted at times. But "kindness above all else" was a key one.