HAPPY MONDAY!
A visit to a wonderful community brings today’s word-of-the-week…
AFFIRMATION
In September we were honored to speak to a group of folks at a homeless shelter in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. We gathered in a circle before the meeting began and read the following affirmation in unison.
We gather as family and as friends.
We make this space safe, caring, and welcoming.
We listen to each other with unconditional acceptance.
We lift each other up; we do not hold each other down.
Life is a struggle, and we are here to help each other through it.
We cannot control others but we can control ourselves.
We are not homeless, for there is a place in this world for us.
We will get where we are going, even if we do not yet know where that is.
Each moment is another chance, and we can always begin again.
We will fail and make mistakes, but that is how we grow and understand.
We are here, and we are worthy of love and belonging.
So let us own our own stories.
And in owning our stories, let us find the courage to share our stories.
And in sharing our stories realize we are never alone.
This was a circle of people with lots of reasons to complain and mistrust society. Yet they sat in a circle and affirmed each other. In a community with very little, they had a lot. They were being Jesus for each other.
I can’t help believing that some other communities would benefit from taking this kind of affirmation seriously.
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Rich, this affirmation is lovely. Thanks for sharing it.