“In recent months I’ve lost my father, my 11-year-old daughter and a marriage.”
The news delivered at Denver’s Avenue Theatre during intermission of an event focused on dealing effectively with loss and adversity made my heart sink to my toes.
Turbulence.
I placed a hand on each shoulder to try to comfort a grieving human. “My father committed suicide. My daughter suffered a fatal stroke. A struggling marriage ran out of gas.”
Turbulence.
Many had gathered on this evening to hear testimonials from others dealing with tragedy. An incredibly brave and vulnerable Doug Vincent, accompanied by musician Sam Llanas, delivered the powerful A Day for Grace performance. Before a sellout crowd, it headlined an emotional program I was honored to host.
The weekly thoughts offered in this space often attempt to address life’s unpredictable nature. Those moments in time that leave us perplexed at its sometimes cruelty.
Why? Why did - fill in the blank - happen to me? Or to a loved one?
Just hours after this random encounter with a grieving man, I had gone to Facebook crying out for prayers for a woman near and dear to my heart who was critically ill. A mother, wife, sister, friend and vibrant spirit. On the precipice between life and death far too early. Far too young.
Turbulence.
The fragility of life. The reminder that all we really have, despite our exhaustive, exhilarating and extensive planning, is right here, right now.
It reminds me of what another man told me many years ago. Something I’ll never forget. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow’s but a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”
Don’t waste a nanosecond on the past and its pain. Forgiveness of self and others must enrich the soil of our futures if we desire to grow and prosper. It’s real easy to write such stuff and to speak of it. Reality warns us that it’s far more difficult to execute. Simple, not easy.
For each and everyone of you dealing with life threatening, life taking, life changing moments in time, please know there are many folks in this world who want to comfort you. Wrap you in their arms. Pray you muster strength for a pending rollercoaster journey and its unknown, unwanted twists and dips.
Turbulence. It’s defined as “violent disorder or commotion.” It arrives via airplane travel, physical ailments, emotional heartache and financial setbacks. Rarely does the first have a lasting effect. It’s temporary and usually requires us to simply tighten the lap belt and remain seated. This too shall pass.
But then the haymakers suddenly appear. The powerful left hook that threatens to knock us out. Violent disorder and commotion. It rocks our world. Pierces our souls with daggers of despair.
Forgive. Address. Unite.
Cherish each day. Each moment. Each breath.
Don’t put off until tomorrow what should be done today.
Never has a Pep Talk been of such rambling thoughts. It was produced from a grieving heart. We all have been there, are there, will be there.
Let’s try like heck to shelter one another as best we can from the storm. Life’s turbulence. It can get real bumpy. It can be very sad. It can be very tragic. It can threaten to overwhelm us.
It is at these times we need each other the most.
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