I do not know about you, but these last months of pandemic seem to have no end! Some might call it a transition or change – but one title (though not an exclusive one) given by author Bruce Feiler in his book Life is in the Transitions is a more realistic one for me right now– he identified one of the transitions as life-quake!
As I reflect back on life, I was someone who had a plan – go to school, get a degree or two – work for the FBI (because I am nosy), or the United Nations (yes, really – that was my dream!), get married, have children, grandchildren and live happily ever after. While a lot of it did go the way I envisioned, there were also pieces unanticipated – some pure gift, like serving in the Catholic Church, and yet some also very painful, fearful, as well as downright difficult. Never in my wildest fairy-tail dreams could I have anticipated how the real story of my life would evolve.
In his book Sacred Darkness, Paul Coutinho would tell us that while many of us are fearful of dark times and struggles, it is there that we often see with new eyes. In my own experience, the path became the road less traveled. It was in the embrace of the pain, and in fact on that road less traveled, that I discovered more deeply God’s unconditional love for all of us. If we remain open, it is there that we are empowered on the spiritual journey to become wiser, see with eyes of love, and discover our calls in life in unique and powerful ways. I now see my own life-quakes and Sacred Darkness as pure gift, trusting always in the God who continues to call each of us by name, if we are but open to listen, trust in that gift, and love as we have never loved before.
-Carol Pisani
