This moved me deeply and I thought there might be some on this list for whom it might have some meaning.
Selma ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 2:26 PM Subject: A beautiful message form Clarissa Pinkola Estes > This is an articulate and powerful message for these times from the author > of "Women Who Run With the Wolves." > > > LETTER TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST DURING TROUBLED TIMES > by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. > > Mis estimados: Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have > heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They > are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now... Ours > is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the > latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary > people. You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some > have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, > elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is > breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend > your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not > lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is -- we were made for > these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in > training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.... > > I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see > one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able crafts > in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are > fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the > history of humankind.... Look out over the prow; there are millions of > boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your > veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you > that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater > forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold > together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless. We have been in > training for a dark time such as this, since the day we assented to come > to Earth. For many decades, worldwide, souls just like us have been > felled and left for dead in so many ways over and over brought down by > naivete, by lack of love, by being ambushed and assaulted by various > cultural and personal shocks in the extreme. We have a history of being > gutted, and yet remember this especially: we have also, of necessity, > perfected the knack of resurrection. Over and over again we have been > the living proof that that which has been exiled, lost, or foundered can > be restored to life again. > > In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how > much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a > tendency too, to fall into being weakened by persevering on what is > outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is > spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all > we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great > souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when > they appear. > > Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen > to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to > be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?...... > > Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you > will see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner > one. To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it to > swirl much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner, far > less volatile core -- till whatever has been lifted into such a vicious > funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is peaceable again. One of the > most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow > yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or desperation, > thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. > > Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of > stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. > Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to > assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. > It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the > critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for > dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding > more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to > bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not > give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale. One of the most > calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world > is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in > dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, > builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the > lantern of soul in shadowy times like these -- to be fierce and to show > mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest > necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully > lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this > is one of the strongest things you can do. > > There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt > despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will > not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is > this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that > there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you > serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds > we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought > us here. > > In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great > ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But > that is not what great ships are built for. > > This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came > from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth, > > Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. (c)2003 C.P. Estes, All rights reserved > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
