War and Beauty
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.
―Frederick Buechner
The world today demands tears. And I am afraid. The pictures and images coming out of Gaza and Israel cannot be unseen. The annihilation and massacre are unprecedented and disturbing. The war in Ukraine persists month after month, disrupting lives, far and near. That country will never be the same and neither will the people or the world. Any outcry to atone for the onslaught of lost lives—so many of them children and elderly people—seems drowned out by unquenchable rage, violence, and fear.
In the midst of such unfathomable violence, it is hard for even the most impassioned optimist to argue with W.B. Yeats:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Things have fallen apart; the center no longer holds. War and violence are flashing neon signs declaring that things have gone horribly wrong. War and violence stand in opposition to the goodness of the created world and the vocation of humanity.
At creation, the Creator announced that that all was good, very good. The heavens, earth, seas, and the image-bearing humans were to work together for the good of all creation, human and non-human alike.
Things have been falling apart for a very long time. The center did not hold almost from the beginning. Cain killed Abel. Families divided and separated becoming countries, nations, and empires bent on domination and control, rather than collaboration and connection.
Our hearts break over the seemingly endless succession of violent conflicts and sources of suffering in our world. But still, we want to respond faithfully and well. Even in the face of incarnated evil, there are different practices and postures that can break up the hard and resistant clumps of war and violence and help maintain and grow a sense of hope.
First, there is the practice of lament. Most of us don’t know how to process personal or communal mourning and struggle to honor our own tears, vulnerability, and the full weight of these disillusioning times and the atrocities of our world. Lament is critical for renewal and restoration. There is a new book called Hopeful Lament by my friend Terra McDaniel that speaks to the lost practice of lament and the necessity of it. It is truly a book for our times. She weaves in theology, Scripture, and Bible stories throughout, providing readers with helpful insights about how grief affects minds, bodies, and souls. Each chapter ends with a suggested practice for processing grief, such as talking to God with breath prayers, tearing fabric or paper, and journaling laments. The practice of lament creates an opening for hope to breathe as it refuses to bury the pain or give into despair. It's an act of trust that we can face pain and survive, and that God cares about our anger, confusion, doubt, grief, and fear.
Second, we can assume a prayer posture of “holding in the Light.” Often, we do not know what to pray or even have the words. Our words feel empty, limiting, hollow, and oh-so-inadequate. However, we can be confident and trust that we have a God who knows and feels our pain. Calvary shows us this. In prayer, when we “hold others in the Light,” whether we know their names or not, we surrender them to the goodness of Love and Light wherever they are. In this prayer posture, we trust that Love and Light cannot be overcome by the vile evil happening and are more potent than all the malicious destruction.
The prayer postures of Gratitude are also helpful in growing a sense of hope.
Third, we can commit to a practice of finding and cultivating beauty. In a world fraught with war, violence, and suffering, the acknowledgment and creation of beauty is a defiant posture and a form of protest. It is a subversive way of pushing back the darkness and violence. Beauty is built into what it means to be human. Beauty brings meaning and depth and power into our lives. It is palpable goodness. God restores our faith, hope, and love in life through the gift of beauty.
This is why people find a piano and bring it into the rubble of war and violence and play beautiful music to recenter our hope and humanity.
We can choose to notice the beauty all around us. Beauty is found in nature’s vistas and landscapes, sunrises and sunsets, other human beings, and in artwork of all sorts. Yes, to all of that. These are all touchpoints of beauty that can ground and center us in what is true and real and help us fall back into rest and Presence. Beauty is also found in the tiny. A small vase of flowers on the table. The cardinals at the birdfeeder. A pause in the afternoon with a mug of tea. A small act of welcoming home children or a partner.
We can cultivate beauty with a simple morning ritual that kindles kindness and blessing towards others as we begin the day. We can also co-create beauty by making art out of our lament or writing poetry prayers.
As I bring this newsletter to a close, I will end with the words of Steve Garnaas-Holmes:
When evil falls like a hailstorm and cruelty pounds living beings into the Earth, when the cloud of ash descends with its broad wings and thoughtless talons, and we seem so small and feel so helpless, we are not.
We are remnants of the light of creation,
little heavens in whom the mighty grace of God
throbs like nuclear power.
Frail and faulted as we are,
we are vessels of the Spirit of Life,
stewards of the peace of God.
In our hope burns a greater power.
Our good will joins an energy field
that moves mountains.
We cannot gauge the quantum of hope
that shimmers, unseeable, in our hope.
We trust, and our hope
defeats the powers that would have us despair.
Radiant with love, even before the dawn,
the victory is ours.
What are your practices of lament?
Who or what situation might need to be held in the Light?
How might you practice finding and cultivating beauty in your life?
I am here to serve your soul in whatever ways you might need or long for … spiritual direction, spiritual companionship, leadership coaching, enneagram coaching, Ignatian Spiritual Exercises guide, and guided retreats. What does your soul need? What does your soul want?
Lamenting, Praying, and Cultivating beauty with you,