monika and christa

there are times i am in complete awe of the women who surround me.

sometimes they bring me to my knees.

this is one of those times.

i have two different blogs i want to share from two different women.

one is from christa, who i've shared before.
i am delighted to say that i'll be meeting this woman in person next month.
i feel so incredibly lucky to be able to say that.

at the end of her blog she says that she writes and teaches about
compassion, truth and wisdom.

she just puts that right out there like she like oranges, apples and bananas.
i smiled when i read that line.
cause, my gosh, does she ever.

her blog is a response to congressman akin.
and much more.

you can find it here.

and then there's monika.
a woman i have met in 'real life' who's strength and beauty stun me.

she lost her son to suicide.
after he came back from the war.

she has just begun a blog in honor of her son, ryan.

the emotions were so mixed when i saw her blog.

i am so proud of her for doing this, and so pleased it will be out
there for us. we need the awareness, and others will need to find
it for support.

and i'm so incredibly sad that she carries this pain with her every moment
of every day.

i wish i had some kinda answer that sugar coated all this stuff.
some kinda theory of a grand plan we don't understand.
i don't tho.
i see horrible pain and am baffled at how we survive it, and amazed
at the love and wisdom i see come out of it. monika is a shining
example of what i'm calling 'the mystery of life' right now.
the light in the darkness.

about the only thing i have learned in watching the life stories
that i watch is that the act of reaching out and doing something for
others with our pain changes us, changes others, changes our world.
and somehow, healing begins to take place.

and it is when we don't reach out, when we curl inward, when we
recoil from the light, choose to stay in the darkness, and never reach
out to others, something far worse than dying takes place...it's a shriveling
of the soul that brings shivers to my depths and such sorrow when i witness it.

these women are the other end of that.
monika and christa teach me over and over again what it means to live.

you can find monika's blog here.

bowing to you both and thanking you.