Lets do the good work of being a light and a megaphone....

Lately I find myself having conversations with people I know well and respect and our topics seem to come to a place of this:   People need to be seen and heard.  People need to be affirmed and validated....they need the space they occupy in the world to......matter.  It doesn't matter if it is a young dancer at a dance camp, or a toddler in a living room, a hurting grandmother at work, a struggling parent.......across the board I see and hear this with the humans I encounter. 

I care about respecting the earth we live in.  I care about recycling and planting trees and enjoying sunsets.  I care about animals.....pets in shelters matter.  The baby painted turtle living in my porch matters......by the way, apparently I can't just set it free in a lake at the end of the summer.  Apparently turtles have lots of icky diseases that can cause problems....and I don't really want it to grow to full maturity in my porch.  Send ideas.....please.  I care about social determinants of health and community issues and politics and policies......I care about justice.  I care about lots of things that matter....but mostly.....I care about people.

I care about how the inside of a person is.  The emotional and spiritual and soul health of a person matters a lot to me......and it matters when they are pre-born and infants.  I am pursuing an endorsement as an infant mental health family specialist....because it matters to me that people take baby brains and baby hearts and souls seriously.  I care about the sense of wellness in toddlers and school-age kiddos, and young adults, and middle age adults and older, well-seasoned people.  I care. 

This troubled and complex and beautiful and broken world we live in is wreaking havoc with people's sense of well-being.  Life is hard.  Times are tough.  The cream that seems to be rising to the top of this boiling pot of life is this.  All people need to feel that they are seen and heard and that they matter.

I have a few ideas about how to do this but please, please, join me and try some things on your own!  If I happen to find myself or purpose myself to be with someone, especially someone who I know is hurting or scared......I need to be present and be fully there.  I need to use all 5 of my senses and be with them.  I need to affirm them and to make sure that they know they are seen....and heard.  I need them to know that they matter.  I don't have to fix anything.  I don't need to have answers.  I just need to be present. 

Claire and I have talked about this as she navigates the world of the hurting and is learning how to be responsive.  We have talked about being with someone in the Fellowship of Suffering.  It is a hard, hard space to be in.....and if you want to talk about that let me know.  I know some things about that.  Being in the fellowship of the suffering IS a spiritual act of worship.....and it is awkward and uncomfortable and it is what Jesus would have us do. 

Helping people to be seen and heard is also very, very Sacred Space.  It matters.  A lot.  It is worth the work that it takes to sit there and listen and love and smile and reach out with a hug, a smile, a gesture of acceptance. 

I think we can heal really big hurts if we can address the anonymity and invisibility of hurting people.  Helping people feel significant is really, really good work.