| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
Both my husband, Todd, and I love to sing our daughter to bed. Whereas I almost always sing "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, Todd's selections jump around. So, a few nights ago, I asked, "What did you sing to her?" Because he couldn't think of the title, he started singing to me, "... One song, a song about love. Glory, from the soul of a young man. A young man, find the one song...." He then added, "I'm pretty sure it's called 'One Song.'" Well, I was pretty sure it wasn't, "No, it's just called, 'Glory.' I'm fairly certain." (The unspoken here was we both knew it was from Rent, a love for which we've shared for 18 years and occasionally erupts into this kind of trivia sparring.) Todd, upping the pride ante: "No, it's definitely called 'One Song.'" Me: "No, it's 'Glory,' for sure." Todd: "Okay, let's look it up." Wait. Wait. Wait. A not-quite-gloating smile emerges on his face, "It's called, 'One Song... Glory." I smile ironically and say out loud, "Of course. Of course it is." LISTEN, LEARN, LOVE...
Read More|ANNE WILLIAMSON|
WAYfinding is both a growing online community, through this blog, and a "bricks and mortar" community in Indianapolis. For the last two weeks, the latter has been discussing the importance of story. Namely, in taking the time to detail and reflect on our life story(ies) thus far, its lessons, patterns and wisdom can arise.
The importance of such work was echoed beautifully in a NPR Here & Now story last week titled "Restarting Life Out From Under Polio's Shadow." In it, Gail Caldwell thoughtfully reflects on how a surgery in her 50s that greatly improved a limp she'd had from polio since 6 months of age challenged her story.
LEARN, then let's reflect and LOVE together and keep LISTENing...
Read More| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
I am increasingly convinced honesty sits at the heart of all good things. Want to uncover your passion? Get honest about answering the question, "What would I do if I weren't afraid?" Looking for deeper connections? Be honest about who you are - where you struggle and find joy. Want to laugh really hard? Just wait for the next honestly human and hilarious moment. Frustrated about your relationship with food? Find the courage (and support) to explore why and how you really use it. Wondering why your prayers feel flat? Ditch the pretense and try a little raw truth: "God, I don't trust you" or "I guess I really don't want to forgive. I'm afraid of what forgiving means: forgetting, me being 'okay'..." or "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" or...
Honesty isn't particularly easy, especially when we're unaccustomed to it. It can even be painful... but only at first. Then, it becomes the key to our freedom, joy, reconciliation, you name it. LISTEN, LEARN, LOVE. What do you hear, honestly?
Read More| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
I used to think of grace as a decision on God's part. To be sure, it was a loving decision made often by a generous God, but it was still a decision. To be gracious was a part of God's job description.
Today, grace for me simply is. It's not a decision God makes; it is God. And, because God is everywhere, in everything, so is grace.
Consequently, I play a much less passive role in grace's presence in my life. I still don't earn it; we can't earn something that simply is. But, I do see it as something to which I may be open or not, with which I may align my spirit or not. It's like awakening to a world of color from black and white. Each ordinary moment holds extraordinary beauty and potential. The question for me has become, "Am I brave enough to see it and listen?"
What do you think? How do you understand grace and your relationship to it? LISTEN, LEARN, LOVE...
Read More| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
It's a big week in the Christian tradition: Holy Week, Easter. And, I'll be honest: I don't know what to do about it. The story, and thus its commemorative days, is deeply meaningful to me; yet, I have little desire to attend church. I want my daughter - and myself - to experience traditions beyond bunnies and eggs; yet, I don't yet know what to incorporate or create.
I've been rereading the book of Mark over the last few weeks, and it strikes me that Jesus too was celebrating holy days at this time: Passover. Of course, his circumstances were unique. And yet, amid the extraordinary, I also read a deeply human struggle: how to remember an old story in ways that feel honest and connecting, personally. For Jesus, given his obvious disdain for the practice, we can assume temple sacrifices went off his list (Mark 11.15-19). He also seems to have taken a traditional meal, the Passover Seder, and infused it with new meaning for himself and his disciples, what became The Lord's Supper (Mark 14.22-24).
Since that time, many new (Christian) traditions have arisen. We don't have to label each "good" or "bad" to discern whether a tradition is personally meaningful. What feels honest and connecting for you may not for your neighbor. Jesus' reimagining of his own traditions teaches that what matters most is to discern the story's point and live authentically from there. What would it look like for you, for me, to do the same? LISTEN, LEARN, LOVE...
Read More| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
My daughter is walking now. Yea! She's also falling now... A LOT. And not soft, little bottom plops. Big, face-plant falls into unkind objects. I hate when she gets hurts, but it's complicated because I'm also proud of why she gets hurt: she's willing to fall.
In the below reflection by Lily Percy, she writes, "Part of living curiously is being open to failure. And part of failure is being willing to be vulnerable."
The thing about kids is they're necessarily vulnerable. They don't have a choice. It's either step forward or forever remain seated. For parents, this can be scary, but more so, if we let it, it's inspiring. What would happen if we each chose, or perhaps accepted, vulnerability? Would it stop holding us back? Would we, like kids, become more willing to fall, to fail, to step forward curiously? In fact, would we begin to see vulnerability as a prerequisite for growth? LEARN, LISTEN, LOVE...
Read More| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
You may or may not be familiar with last week's World Vision news story. To summarize: World Vision works to end poverty and injustice around the world, most visibly through child sponsorship. On Monday, March 24, World Vision (US branch) announced it would begin employing gay Christians in legal same-sex marriages. After intense criticism and dropped sponsorships from conservative evangelical Christians, on March 26, WV reversed that decision.
Now, as a person unapologetically in favor of comprehensive equal rights for LGBTQ individuals, there are a myriad of reasons I'm anti WV's reversal; but, honestly, the biggest has to do with timing. Sources tell us WV spent 2 years in prayer and discernment around employing committed LGBTQ folks. They took just 2 days to reverse that decision! 2 years of listening amid normal daily life versus 2 days of mind-racing amid a media frenzy and disappearing contributions. If God "speaks," how does God "speak"? How do we decide to trust what it is we "hear"? LISTEN, LEARN, LOVE...
Read More| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately... and not just because I love the Pharrell song. Namely, how does one "get" happy? Perhaps it is the consequence of circumstance. Or, one's natural disposition. Maybe it's more like an object, floating in and out of our life "willy nilly" at the whim of our subconscious. Or, maybe it's a choice. Perhaps a choice hindered or bolstered by other choices, daily, minute-to-minute even. LISTEN, LEARN, LOVE...
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