Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Phoenix Rising

This business of coming home to understanding, to new realities, is constant and complex. Story after story unfolds this year in the wake of tornados, floods and fires, all powerful forms of devastating change. And the two new photos that Gabby Giffords has posted on her web site are among the emerging signs of what new life can look like. Check out this article in the Arizona Daily Star online: share

What incredible courage it takes for one to emerge from the wreckages of life and begin to rebuild. I applaud the wisdom in this op ed piece about Giffords' progressive recovery. Even more I celebrate the author's challenge to all of us to "adjust our expectations" and be able to receive the new ways in which we will experience Giffords. Do we have it in us to welcome a variety of abilities and dis-abilities among the people we work with, or the people who serve us?

I wonder if we can resist the urge to analyze and critique how well others arise from tragedy and instead study our own ability to recognize and welcome their transformation.

1 comment:

JimII said...

There is a slippery something in the murky facts of tragic experience that I can quite catch. I feel that at some center point, living just in the moment, focusing on--not the suffering--but the self that is suffering, there is a something that is non-tragic, even beautiful. But as soon as I fully forumlate the thought it squishes out of my hands. It seems trite and lame and "yelp, what dudn't kill us makes us stronger"-ish.