I look back at my book when I am feeling scared and unsafe as I do this morning with the news that Trump has bombed Iran, and I reassert my beliefs – war is not the answer. I re-commit to not being part of any fear-based psycho-social energy or any kind of “othering”. I re-commit to “the mighty kindness”, to love, not fear, even as I hear the voices of others calling me stupid, naïve, not rooted in reality. There is a lot of reality to be rooted in and I am rooted in the reality that most people in the world all want the same basic things – a safe place to raise our children, a place where all can reach and thrive and grow and develop their gifts, talents and abilities, where all can flourish.
The leaders who are full of hate and death and destruction are making decisions for the rest of us. I work with people. All kinds of people, and I have travelled a lot and I believe that I know what is in the hearts of the majority. These leaders have no right to take us all down with them, to risk the obliteration of us all in a nuclear war.
Today we seek a solid, steady ground on which to stand, a place of calm and connection. That ground is faith, hope, love, humility, forgiveness, peace, and knowing and protecting what really matters. In my book I encounter a white sasquatch in the wilderness and he leads me back to “a knowing what we really know” – that we all need family and community in order to become our best and most fulfilled selves, and that beyond this there is a lot we don’t know and there is a lot to learn in this magnificent life, and that we must keep our hearts open. The white sasquatch leads our hero/heroine back to the awe and mystery that is Life.
After writing this book my daughter reminded me of a story I had shared with her when she was young, that as a very young child when I had watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the first time that the first scene with the Bumble before he had lost his teeth had so terrified me, in a way I had not experienced before – but that it had impacted my world view greatly when, after his teeth were pulled, he became a friend to the others. She suggested that he was the inspiration for Luke, the white sasquatch, and that makes sense to me. With this in mind I wrote the end of the book.
“And then, perhaps we discover that the monster of our childhood nightmares lives right down the street in that relatively small stretch of forest, or even in our own backyard, and that he is not unlike us. He is playful and loving and caring and kind. How is this possible? How has he stayed hidden for so long and what does he need from us? He could so easily destroy us, but he chooses not to.
And that gives me hope.”
A few weeks ago my little sister died. She was my step-sister; our parents married when I was almost 18 and she had just turned 16. When our parents divorced something like 15 years later I slowly lost touch with my step-family, but Tracy reached out a few years ago through Facebook and we had shared brief messages with one another. I wanted to have a big conversation with her, but I put it off and then she died. The news came as a shock to me, but what I learned at her funeral is that she had known a few years ago that her health was not great and she had deliberately reconnected with many people from the various chapters of her life, and she had prepared for all of us a huge celebration! It was unbelievable, this funeral, that became a time of reconnecting, renewal, and remembrance of what really matters. It was wonderful to hear many stories of her life, and I know that she is smiling down on us all.
Since the funeral I have had a song playing over and over in my mind, one I used to play/sing often in church and at funerals and various other occasions. It was written by John G. Elliott and made famous by Ricky Skaggs and it’s called “Somebody’s Prayin’” and these are the words:
“Somebody’s Prayin’. I can feel it.
Somebody’s Prayin’ for me.
Mighty hands are guiding me to protect me from what I can’t see.
Lord I believe. Lord I believe.
Somebody’s prayin’ for me.
Angels are watchin. I can feel it.
Angels are watching over me.
There’s many miles to go ‘til I get home
Still I’m safely kept before your throne.
Lord I believe. Lord I believe.
Angels are watching over me.
Well I’ve walked the barren wilderness where my pillow was a stone
And I’ve been through the darkest caverns where no light had ever shown
Still I went on ‘cos there was someone who was down on their knees.
Lord, I thank you for these people. Praying all this time – for me.
Somebody’s prayin. I can feel it. Somebody’s prayin for me.
There’s many miles ahead til I get home
Still I’m safely kept before God’s throne.
Lord I believe. Lord I believe.
Somebody’s prayin’ for me. Somebody’s prayin’ for me.”
I know this, that today somebody’s praying for me. I can feel it.
Please know this! Today I am praying for you!