Guest Post by Margaret Stortz
I am convinced that we are far more durable than we think we are. All we have to do is remember some of those tough times we pushed through to know that we are made of pretty good stuff. Recently a PBS special presented a several-episode piece on the lives of the Rooevelts…Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor, which I watched eagerly because Franklin and Eleanor were very present in my life during my growing-up years. To a kid it felt like Franklin Roosevelt was President of the United States forever. Whatever one may think of them or their politics, there is no denying that they pushed through some unbelievable hurdles to become the people they were, especially a disabled Franklin and an unloved and unlovely Eleanor.
What is it that moves us……
What is it that moves us through events into outcomes that give us depth and breadth? What can it be but the spiritual raw material we possess, coupled with the desire to come to resolution, whether it is happy or otherwise? Desire, I think, is the key. Desires keeps us hanging in there when at times we seem to be treading water, or maybe even losing ground. And sometimes hanging in there is all that is available to us during some stretches…and we may know in advance that some resolutions will not bring happiness, only the logical outcome of something we began in good faith. Truly we cannot always direct the way in which the road will turn.
I would not have refused the gifts…
The simple truth is that we have a deep, spiritual core within us that, if we wish, keeps us moving. Some of the facts along the way may not be pretty, but the experiences add dimensions we might never have imagined. Certainly I would never have wished some of the hard places on myself if I had seen them coming, but by the same token, I would not have refused the gifts they brought.
At this Christmas Season, let’s celebrate the depth of our spirituality as well as all the gifts that come to us from every direction.
This post first appeared in Margaret’s Essays on Everything on 12/23/14.
You may reach Margaret Stortz at https://margaretstortz.blogspot.com/
