I have found that while May is a time of great celebration and joy for many, it’s also a time of anxiety, depression, sorrow, fear and grief for many as well. Name an emotion, there is someone somewhere experiencing it right this moment.
It seems like at all times in the world there are people feeling the whole spectrum of emotions. Sometimes even conflicting emotions run concurrently in one person! I know sometimes they do in me. As we encounter the world, some emotions are clear to see while others remain hidden under smiles and assurances that everything is okay.
But whether they are visible or not to us, all emotions are visible to the God who loves us through all of them.
Today I pray for friends who are celebrating and excited about graduations and summer vacations ahead. I pray for friends who are overjoyed by positive medical news and real concrete miracles happening in their lives at this very moment.
Today I also pray for friends who are grieving, friends who are battling mental health issues, friends who are caring for ill children or parents, friends who are unexpectedly experiencing emotions they can’t explain and don’t fully understand.
I love this quote by Mary Oliver that comes at the end of a beautiful poem. In the poem, she talks about how she pays attention to the world around her. She takes note of everything with great wonder and admiration. She pauses to listen.
Maybe the thing we are meant to do with this one, wild and precious life is to pay attention and be aware of others.
Let us celebrate with those who are celebrating today, and let us grieve with those who are grieving. Let us be, as Mary Oliver’s poem says “idle and blessed” as we take in the wide and complex humanity God created for us to know and love like God does.
