Hope will not be cancelled? by Terry Hershey

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? Let us remember; no one of us is on this journey alone. Here’s the deal: When life is upside down, we easily forget the fundamental truth that we live from sufficiency, not scarcity. Even in times of distress. Church was cancelled. March madness was cancelled. Public gatherings have been cancelled. There is more to come. But hope will not be cancelled. Conversations will not be cancelled. Friendship will not be cancelled. Gardening will not be cancelled. Watching the moonlight filter through the trees will not be cancelled. Love will not be cancelled. Music will not be cancelled. Reading will not be cancelled. Self-care will not be cancelled. Prayer will not be cancelled. Laughter will not be cancelled. And lifting one another’s spirits will not be cancelled. May we lean into the good stuff that remains. One. ??-??? It doesn’t hurt to pause. Let yourself be still. Breathe. Let the pause be a sanctuary for calm and reassurance. Two.? ??-? ?Who are your people? Reach out to them. Encourage, listen, laugh and celebrate. It lightens the load. Three. ??-? Savor beauty. In moments and snippets. Let beauty make you smile. With beauty there is joy and joy is always a balm for whatever ails us. When life is precarious, the world is astonishingly and exquisitely beautiful. Four.?? -?? ?Find ways to be grateful. Etty Hillesum’s reminder, “As life becomes harder and more threatening, it also becomes richer, because the fewer expectations we have, the more the good things of life become unexpected gifts that we accept with gratitude.” Five.? -?? ?Any crisis reminds us of the truly vulnerable. To be human is to care for one another with empathy and kindness.

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