Colouring between the lines – the gift of faith

I spent time with a much loved friend yesterday. As we may not see each other much in the coming weeks and Christmas is approaching (eek!), we began to review the year that has been. It has been a remarkable and difficult year for her – challenges at work, a resignation, a transition to a whole new career, study that plumbs the depths of the soul, the death of family members, the cleaning out of a house inhabited by the family for over 50 years along with all the memories that accompany it – the list went on. She is a remarkable woman, whose life has not been easy and she handles the emotional storms of her life with apparent ease and grace. 2017 has been like Hurricane Irma for her, yet she always comes back to how good it has been.  I encouraged her to celebrate this magnificent year of resilience at by cleaning off the dining room table and, as she remembered them, to put on butcher’s paper all the examples of joy and sorrow, achievement and transcendence that have been part of 2017. We were talking about loss and William Worden’s fourth task of grieving – ritualising and memorialising as we move on.  Laughing  at the indulgence, she said. It would just be a great scribble!

It reminded me of those days in primary school when the teacher was desperate to find something to keep the class occupied. On a beautiful clean piece of A4 we were to make a scribble with large, generous strokes and then colour in the spaces to create something new.

This is what life’s about, isn’t it? Making something magical out of what seems to be a “hot mess”, learning the art of forgiveness so that relationships have a space to flourish, taking that which we have suffered and moulding it into strength and beauty?

We are “born again” everyday. I think I’ll get my colouring pencils out again.

Sharonne

 

 

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