Disquiet

“If only you would slay the wicked…” (in me – I always add when I mutter Psalm 139 to myself) “Search me oh God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139: 19, 23-24

As I was appreciating quiet this morning (laying under my comfortable comforter and praying) there was also much disquiet in my mind. Last night I both 1) attended a talk on fair trade and was exposed again to economic inequities and need of other peoples, and 2) read my daughter’s blog post on the peoples’ rage in Managua, Nicaragua over electoral fraud.

[Here’s a few words from her post: “in a country where so many don't have anything - don't have food to eat, don't have land to farm, don't have a house for their family - i guess i can see why there's so much rage when they take away one thing they are supposed to have, their vote.” For more go to the 11/10/08 entry at http://rebekahmenning.blogspot.com/]

She also mentioned that she was seeing nothing yet of the violent street protests and election fraud in the international news – at least not in English. I was reminded - again - of how easy it is to not want to hear about all the ways we mistreat each other, and to realize anew that along with the other I am among those that participate in cruelty.

You may ask – what does this have to do with wellness?

Seeing the whole picture, confronting the whole truth, is for me a part of wellness. Facing the cruelties, in others and myself, helps move me out of complacency to action, albeit small. So does looking for any positive, and recognizing any good in the other and myself. Both are important: looking squarely at hard realities, but also hoping that somehow, some way, some good and light might rise from the darkness.

“…even the darkness will not be dark to you oh God; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:12