Had a bad day yesterday and I was going to write about that this morning.
But then I checked in on the news and, well. Libya.
And before that, Morocco.
So my bad day? Never mind then.
Except, on my walk just now, it did get me to thinking about how to process these wretched-beyond-imagining scenarios that are playing out in far away places of the world. How can we land somewhere between letting the human travesty undo us, and turning off the news because we just don't want to see it? How can we make our way to somewhere between feeling utterly helpless and numbingly apathetic?
Maybe I could start with just three possible responses.
1. Give
If we're able and so inclined, there's always relief funds set up rather quickly after any global disaster. Far be it for me to send you anywhere specific, but you know how to be discerning. Go with reputable organizations you trust. And we ought to be thoughtful not to let the emotion of the immediate crisis make us abandon charities we already support. Needs are everywhere. And, truthfully, as a planet, there's enough to go around. Even now.
2. Pray
If we're so inclined. Take the enormity of the disaster and all those feelings of helplessness and confusion, and hand it to the One Who's in charge. And yes, that includes ranting and lament. But also, in Libya's case, pray that a country so entrenched in political division might now come together in ways redemptive and beautiful against the horror. Pray for the rescue workers, and the pastors, and the doctors, and those dealing with the dead. Pray for goodness to win, even now. Pray, and let it go. If you find yourself distracted and disturbed, pray and let it go as many times as we need throughout the day.
3. Do the good work before us.
Go about whatever business we have for the day as if it still matters, because it still does. All that we do that brings care and peace and order and goodness to those around us, in whatever capacity, that still counts. Our children still need us to make breakfast, our students still need our attention, our patients still need our care, our neighbour still needs our respect. Those emails or reports or conversations that help keep things moving in our corner of the world, they are important contributions to life and order and peace.
And so is processing a (comparatively hardly) bad day, which still provides me with opportunities for growth, and which I will do, am doing, within the pages of my journal, and out on the sidewalk in the healing brilliance of a rising sun.
So my bad day? Never mind then.
Except, on my walk just now, it did get me to thinking about how to process these wretched-beyond-imagining scenarios that are playing out in far away places of the world. How can we land somewhere between letting the human travesty undo us, and turning off the news because we just don't want to see it? How can we make our way to somewhere between feeling utterly helpless and numbingly apathetic?
Maybe I could start with just three possible responses.
1. Give
If we're able and so inclined, there's always relief funds set up rather quickly after any global disaster. Far be it for me to send you anywhere specific, but you know how to be discerning. Go with reputable organizations you trust. And we ought to be thoughtful not to let the emotion of the immediate crisis make us abandon charities we already support. Needs are everywhere. And, truthfully, as a planet, there's enough to go around. Even now.
2. Pray
If we're so inclined. Take the enormity of the disaster and all those feelings of helplessness and confusion, and hand it to the One Who's in charge. And yes, that includes ranting and lament. But also, in Libya's case, pray that a country so entrenched in political division might now come together in ways redemptive and beautiful against the horror. Pray for the rescue workers, and the pastors, and the doctors, and those dealing with the dead. Pray for goodness to win, even now. Pray, and let it go. If you find yourself distracted and disturbed, pray and let it go as many times as we need throughout the day.
3. Do the good work before us.
Go about whatever business we have for the day as if it still matters, because it still does. All that we do that brings care and peace and order and goodness to those around us, in whatever capacity, that still counts. Our children still need us to make breakfast, our students still need our attention, our patients still need our care, our neighbour still needs our respect. Those emails or reports or conversations that help keep things moving in our corner of the world, they are important contributions to life and order and peace.
And so is processing a (comparatively hardly) bad day, which still provides me with opportunities for growth, and which I will do, am doing, within the pages of my journal, and out on the sidewalk in the healing brilliance of a rising sun.
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