To Live "in grace"

I was introduced to the writings of Anne Morrow Lindbergh several years ago at a “Nurturing the Spirit Within” Retreat at Queen's House of Retreats. Gift from the Sea, she says, was written, “in order to think out my own particular pattern of living, my own individual balance of life, work, and human relationships," to speak about life while describing a variety of shells found on the beach.

In the first chapter she asks, while pondering the channelled whelk, “What is the shape of my life?  It is determined by many things…I want to give and take…carry out my obligations.  But I want first of all – to be at peace with myself.  I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life … I want, in fact, to live “in grace” as much of the time as possible.  Grace being an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony…I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God…”

“I have learned…that certain environments, certain modes of life, certain rules of conduct are more conducive to inner and outer harmony than others…simplification of life is one road to this…but my frame of life does not foster simplicity…but multiplicity…that leads to fragmentation.  It does not bring grace, it destroys the soul.  Distraction is inherent in woman’s life." 

The problem then is,  "how to remain whole in the midst of the distractions of life; how to remain balanced, no matter what forces tend to pull one off centre; how to remain strong, no matter what shocks come in at the periphery…"

She goes on to talk about the value of solitude.  There is “a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious.  When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too.  If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others….Only when one is connected to one’s inner core is one connected to others, and for me the core, the inner spring, can best be refound through solitude.”

Today, I along with 9 other ladies, had the opportunity to spend the day at Queen's House.  Some of that time was spent alone, and even though the retreat centre seemed a bit less quiet than usual, I was encouraged by my time of silence.  For like, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, I too have found that in moments of quiet contemplation, in solitude and silence I become more aware of who I am, of my inner needs, desires, and satisfaction - which to me speaks of wholeness. It is in silence that I can ponder the knowledge of and about God that I have learned, let it filter down to my innermost being and, like the fire, the cloud, and the water that symbolize the Holy Spirit, let it flow over and through and wrap itself around who I am. As a result, I become less fragmented. I become more whole, more at peace with who I am and with others.

It is in silence and solitude that I find a measure of that peace that Jesus promised to us.  As His promise of "shalom" indicates,  He seeks to find us and leave us well, with wholeness in our being... with an inner harmony that is reflected in outward harmony.

All in all it was a day that addressed in me the longing to live "in grace."

I end the day with desires expressed by John O'Donohue,

As the light departs to let the earth be one with night...
After the day's intensity - may the heart grow still,
Gracious in thought for all the day brought,
surprises that dawn could never have dreamed...
And awaken the soul for the new tomorrow.

"Dignity"

Last year our son Matthew and his wife Melissa worked in Kabala, Sierra Leone for 8 months.  Melissa did an internship with Cause Canada which does an incredible work with women and children.  You can check out their web page and more reports at http://www.cause.ca

This painting is for Melissa and all the wonderful women she met and made friends with while working with and for them.  I call it "Dignity" for several reasons: because of the dignity and power participation in the literacy programs gives to the women, because women in African bear a lot of pain with silent dignity, and because it just seemed right:)

Below are a few quotes that I have taken from their reports that give a ‘birds-eye’ view of the women’s literacy program. 

Melissa: April 2010

We've been getting more and more into our work in the last few weeks here in Sierra Leone and it's been good.  The people that I am working with in the literacy program are really wonderful.  They are all professional teachers and they are all very good at what they do.  I've had a couple opportunities to attend their classes and each time I've been so impressed.  Most of my work the last few weeks has been in the office.  I made 500 sets of alphabet flashcards for the literacy participants, which took me the better part of last week.  Now I'm helping Margaret (the literacy supervisor) to develop a curriculum for the level 2 classes, which has certainly been a learning process.  It made me really grateful for my TESOL training and all the lesson plans I had to prepare and hand in!

Matthew: July 15, 2010
CAUSE has a program that teaches women in rural communities how to read and write, as well as to do basic numeracy. Most of these women have never been to school and have no foundation for beginning to construct an understanding of written language. Most will never see their 1st language in written form.

Melissa and I attended a class yesterday in the town of Dogoliya. The women were learning consonant blends. PR, FR, DR, CR etc. One older lady, a member of one of our leadership classes was asked to come underline a blend on the chalkboard. She had been watching carefully, trying to grasp the concept. As she approached the board, she took the chalk from Aminata, her teacher, and with only a moment’s hesitation underlined "FR". As she returned to her seat to the class' applause a huge smile broke out over her face.
It is easy to see the impact that basic literacy has on the confidence of these women. It is empowering to learn something new. Many of our students will never be fully literate, but to learn to write one's own name is, for these women, to take control of a portion of their life as yet untouched. It is a beautiful thing to watch.

Melissa: November 2010

Throughout the year, our literacy participants have to take 3 exams; one in April, one in May and one in November.  In April, the class in Kamadugu Sokurala had the lowest exam scores in the program.  We all know that somebody has to come last… but the women in Kamadugu Sokurala understandably felt discouraged by their results.  We decided to send Aunty Margaret (our Project Supervisor) to cheer them up.  Aunty Margaret has many qualities that make her an excellent supervisor; she is experienced, capable, honest and organized.  But her greatest gift, in my opinion, is that she really knows how to talk to people.
Aunty Margaret sat down with the women in Kamadugu Sokurala and asked about the challenges that they are facing in their learning.  After listening to their stories and acknowledging the difficulties, she proceeded to remind them of all the things that make their struggle worthwhile:  the joys of reading and writing, of helping kids with their homework, of seeing women participate in community meetings... (The list is long and that is why we do what we do.)   When Aunty Margaret talks about Women’s Empowerment you can tell that she means every word that she says.  Maybe that’s what makes her so captivating.  Within 20 minutes, the women had forgotten their discouragement and regained their zeal for learning. 
Over the next couple of months, they worked tirelessly with Samuel (their teacher) to catch up to their peers.  When May rolled around, the women in Kamadugu Sokurala sat their exams with confidence …and they blew us away.  Their overall average increased by a margin of 40%.  In just 3 months they had gone from last to first.  We are still celebrating their achievement.  It would seem that sometimes, we all just need a little encouragement from the “aunties” in our lives.