Blessings From the Rubble

Heartsong is an annual retreat sponsored by the 1917 Clinic at UAB for people living with HIV/AIDS. I am honored and excited to be attending the retreat as a co-facilitator with Rev. Joe Elmore. This year's theme is "Blessings!," inspired by Rachel Naomi Remen's inspirational book, My Grandfather's Blessings.

In preparation for tomorrow's session "Finding Blessings in Difficult Times," I have been remembering the many times I, or others who I know, have experienced a loss, disappointment, or tragedy and how somewhere under the rubble blessings were uncovered.

And then I recalled a touching story that I heard on NPR about 5th graders in Northridge, California sending letters and drawings to children devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. One letter said, "I wrote this letter to tell you I care about you." Others included poems, or funny stories in hopes of sending cheer. The Northridge children raised more than $1700 for the Red Cross Haitian relief effort and sent markers, pens, and papers to the children.

The children in Haiti were moved by the support from afar. As a gesture of appreciation, they sent back to California a car made from juice bottles and caps, thank you notes for the encouragement, and one young girl sang a song in English praising her new friends as angels.

The students in California were glad to hear back from their Haitian counterparts and impressed with their resourcefulness and courage. Hope for continued relationships sparked by the exchange.

Blessings from the rubble...children from a privileged community reaching out in meaningful ways to those less fortunate; learning about students from another culture, honoring them with dignity, being inspired by them. Children in tragedy being touched by kind strangers and responding with gratitude and creativity...listeners around the world given the opportunity to take a break from the sniping that fills our airwaves to learn from the children.

When was a time that you were going through a hard time and something good came from it? What blessings were you able to find in the rubble?

Namaste

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