Remembering Nourishing Relations

There is something about these times

of fragmentation and separation

of polarization and distance

that leaves me feeling very alone. 

Even in my home, in my community, 

with my friends and family

I sometimes feel

isolated

different

judged

ostracized

and it hurts. 

It really hurts

to the core

when I feel like I can’t find a space

to feel loved simply for who I am. 

Or that I need to hide some aspect of myself

in order to be loved.

These are urgent times

that require us to remember our connection

to one another

to love

to life

These are times that demand

that we open our arms

and embrace our beloveds

despite their flaws

embrace our neighbors

despite our differences. 

In these times of uncertainty

of change

of so much movement

I recognize that we must find a way to live together

in health

even with those with whom we disagree.

They aren’t going away. 

If we can truly listen

to one another

if we can truly see one another

with love

and respect

with gratitude 

for the relation itself

then perhaps we might take a step toward 

relations that nourish us. 

How can we forgive the ones who need our forgiveness? 

How can we hold the pain we feel without blaming, even if there is someone at fault? 

How can we grieve together, even with the ones who might have hurt us, so that we can touch our common humanity again? 

How can we truly remember nourishing relations? 

This was the purpose of a ceremony we did in the autumn, the time of planting seeds so that they might receive the waters of winter

and flourish in spring. 

Here, now, in the Middle East, this purpose echoes in me

reverberating strongly the way my heart beats after I have run miles. 

How do my own opinions, my own prejudices

about myself and about others

get in the way of my remembering nourishing relations? 

How can I really look at those opinions, even when it hurts to do so?