Index of Rev. Grey's Columns

With the suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the recent derailing of a train here on the south side, and the persistence of increasing violence in our neighborhood, and in the world, especially still in Iraq, it can sometimes be hard to pay attention to good news. But perhaps the healthiest approach is to strike a balance between attention to bad news and attention to good news, notice both the life’s harshness and its beauty.

The coming fall season cajoles us into noticing the natural living world that sustains us. Vibrant fall colors evoke wonder that there is such beauty all around us. They remind us of life’s good news.

In the last days of summer, we lost some dear friends. We knew that church member Vi Stark was finally succumbing to her cancer. We did not know that there was an illness silently taking its toll in the body of our dear friend, Dr. Dick Jones, who was a beloved member of our church and of this Montgomery Place community. He died so suddenly, that many did not have the chance to say goodbye to him. We grieve the loss of Vi Stark and Dick Jones.

Just as a close inspection of any leaf will reveal blemishes, an honest look at any life will reveal flaws. No human being is perfect. But we look at the whole of a life, concentrating most on the beauty that shone through in their loving, giving acts of kindness, or generosity. We pay attention to the gifts they nourished and offered to the world. These two church members, Vi Stark and Dick Jones, offered beauty and caring to so many whose lives they touched.

We cannot ignore the harshness of life; we cannot hide completely from illness, or suffering. And we cannot avoid seeing and responding to the human and societal evil that causes unnecessary suffering. But we are also called celebrate life, to take time for gratitude and appreciation for what is, for the blessing of companionship, however short, the beauty of nature, however transient.

Beauty, which is in the eye of the beholder is also within the inner spirit of every human person, and every natural being. We can see the sacred self even in the one who is dying. We can see the sacred self even in the child who is suffering from hunger.

Appreciation inspires us to sustain life in whatever ways our limited selves are able, to be tender and kind, and to work for a good quality of life for all. Appreciation also enhances life in the moment. Fall’s beauty calls us in two directions: to care for, tend, and save our world, and, in the midst of continual reminders of life’s harshness, to notice and appreciate its beauty.

With love, in faith,

Nina