More record warm days have slowed leaf turn down; what began as a very early color season is now quite late. Today is cloudy, very warm, and somewhat wet. We will take whatever rain we are sent, and be glad for it.
We are in autumn and the spirits draw close. This is a good time to honor them, and to remember the struggles through which they persevered so that we might have lives.
Yet, it is easy to forget the suffering they experienced. It is so very tempting to ignore the pain and hardships that many of our Ancestors faced. Perhaps it is a side-effect of the advertising driven, media saturated, world we live in that so much pain and terror is so easily erased.
How easily I forget the hardships my parents and grandparents faced! How quickly I distract myself from the immediacy of their fears, and of the threats they faced! What strange stories we tell ourselves in our attempts to imagine that our country’s past was something other than violent and racist!
Now, at this time of the year when the Ancestors are perceived as unusually close, it is good to put things in perspective, and to hold sacred their suffering. It is a boon to put their hardships in perspective so that our efforts to carry on the task of building a more just and equitable country and world are grounded in something more solid than lies and fantasy. Surely we are now called to join the Ancestors in the ongoing task of resisting the erasure of suffering.
Please share your thoughts and join the conversation!