The shock of faith
Restore our land, our homes, our faith in your goodness
Each week I round up 5 good things for you: books, essays, poems, art, music, prayers, podcasts, etc. Normally this comes out on Wednesdays as a mid-week offering, but normally I don’t have weeks as full as this (as you’ll read tomorrow on the Compassion Brigade). So enjoy these now!
Please keep praying for and supporting those whose lives have been devastated by the California wildfires. This week so many of you donated to support Alonzo Aguirre and his family after the Altadena fire. I’m equally delighted that 1) we helped them meet their initial goal; and 2) they raised the goal so that we can keep giving because the need is enormous.
I also asked you to share more ways we can support those who have lost their homes. Here’s what you sent:
A family of 7 whose mom is in the middle of breast cancer treatment.
A single mother of 6 who lost the house she was renting.
A family of 3 whose home was burned, then looted.
Lord, have mercy.
“Restore our land, our homes, our faith in your goodness,
And show us again how you bring life out of ash and dust
Give us the resources and strength, we ask, to rebuild and replant” "
(from Catholic Health Association of the US)
“O God, whose love encircles us; sustain those who respond when wildfires roar” (a prayer collection for the wildfires from Episcopal Relief & Development)
Grief is thick around us. If you want to access the 30-day grief devotional I created for Hallow, you can get a free trial for yourself or a friend. Hearing how these words are meeting people in grief has been a rare light in all this darkness.
David Brooks’ latest essay is an unexpected, compelling testimony: The Shock of Faith: It’s Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be. “I’ve been grateful to live in an enchanted world, to live toward someone I can seek and serve. I’ve been grateful to have to learn and relearn yet another startling truth, that faith is about yearning but it’s not about striving…‘I prayed for wonders instead of happiness, Lord,’ Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, ‘and you gave them to me.’”
Can’t stop thinking about this haiku shared by Lori Hetteen (whom I got to meet last weekend!) from the 17th-century Japanese haiku master Matsuo Bashō.
How admirable,
to see lightning,
and not think life is fleeting.
Finally, thank you to the talented Corrie Haffly who turned my latest essay into this beautiful artwork. I made sure that everyone could access the “epiphany” about the Scripture even though the essay was for paid subscribers only, but I hope you enjoy a taste of the rest thanks to her work:
That artwork with your words!!! Wow wow wow