Reflections, August 11th 2023

I usually write about these on instagram, but as instagram is changing, I will be sharing my reflections on my WordPress for a bit. I typically split my reflections into three different categories: what I have been learning about Yahweh (the God I follow), what I have been learning about people, and what I have been learning about myself. I was inspired to follow this format after listening to the podcast The Next Right Thing by Emily P Freeman (I actually still listen to it most days).

What I have been learning about Yahweh:

I have been reading the Orthodox Study Bible these days for my quiet time and devotionals. In a commentary I read recently, it said that the remedy for humanity’s pain and suffering was the incarnation of God. I feel like this actually has big theological implications for how to respond to pain and suffering right now. It is not in explaining the pain and suffering away that it is ‘dealt’ with, and definitely not to be dismissing and invalidating it to handle it. But the God of the Universe came to be with us – God with us (Emmanuel) – in our pain and suffering, that was the remedy; it was his with-ness. In the words of child psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy: “We de-shame by joining the struggle”. It is not usually the pain that is so terrible more than it is being alone in the pain.

What I have been learning about people:

One of the many books that I am going through right now is Megan Devine’s “It’s Okay Not to Be Okay” about grief. She makes a distinction between ‘pain’ and ‘suffering’. In short, pain is inevitable, but suffering can be kept in check to a degree. She explained it much better in her book, but I took it as suffering is pain expressed and processed unhealthily.

What I have been learning about myself:

Even 7.5 hours of sleep is no longer enough sleep. I need at least 8 hours. Plus, I notice that I notice so much more beauty when I am well rested.

I cannot force myself into empathy, but I can at least embody a posture of humility, curiosity, and of learning.

Hope can be found in the smallest of things, as long as we are paying attention and as long as we are listening.

Even now, especially when I am stressed and sleep-deprived, it is still difficult for me to believe that people mean the best at times; my body is still wired to distrust more often than trust. But this has definitely been a healing work in process.