A Question?

Sometimes pulling back is survival. I've been lying low. Has anyone noticed? I have a lot of opinions and some of them ruffle feathers. I was once told by a good man, a church leader, that "you are brutally honest." And the thought I had, was, oh yeah, you should hear all that I keep to myself. Being brutally honest isn't really a compliment and it's not the part of me that I would care to nurture. But honesty comes to me naturally. My dad who has been gone now for forty years was a man of self assuredness and perhaps some would say, brutally honest. But in the world of social media, would he have been? I doubt it. No one lasts too long without getting knocked down a peg or two. 

Sometimes I want to pull the covers over my head and not pay attention to the world. Hole up, turn off the car radio, turn off the news, turn away when I hear anything negative. I want to nurture my inner Pollyanna, even though I've never had an inner Pollyanna. Rather I feel like Eeyore, or Lucy from Peanuts, or even Chicken Little, who believes the sky is falling. 

In a world of doom and gloom, of political storms and polarization, of climate change, and immigration crisis, and so much human suffering caused by natural catastrophe as well as human cruelty, I have a hard time finding the silver linings and the inner peace that comes from hope and love and humanity. I know it's there. I see it everyday in the faces of my loved ones, and in the beautiful valley I'm apart of, but how do we not get overwhelmed? How do we continue to reach for light when darkness feels imminent? How do we balance being aware and educating ourselves with light and joy? I don't believe there are simple answers. Years ago, I taught a Sunday School class of 15 year olds, and sometimes they'd should out "BSSA" to some of my questions. I found out that stood for Basic Sunday School Answers. They might have just said, your question doesn't really elicit any real in-depth answer. Or don't bother us with this crap. It got me thinking about how often do we really want to know or do we just want to call out BSSA or BS or maybe even, don't bother me with this crap, this reality stuff. 

So I'm asking where do you find light? Where do you find hope? And no BSSA.