laundry & liberation.

“Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pigrimage? Who indeed knows why there can be comfort in a world of desolation? Now God be thanked that there is a beloved one who can lift up the heart in suffering, that one can play with a child in the face of such misery. Now God be thanked that the name of a hill is such music, that the name of a river can heal. Aye, even the name of a river that runs no more.
Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pilgrimage? Who knows what keeps us living and struggling, while all things break about us? Who knows why the warm flesh of a child is such a comfort, when one’s own child is lost and cannot be recovered? Wise men write books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom. Oh God, my God, do not Thou forsake me. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, if Thou art with me….– Alan Paton (Cry, The Beloved Country)

I was in the basement doing laundry the other day. My 17 year old neighbor came down to the basement to check if I was done using the washing machine. We ended up talking for quite awhile. She is 32 weeks pregnant, expecting her second child. shared with me how she woud have never imagined her life ending up like this. She told me she hopes her brother who is a freshmen in High School doesn't make the same choices she has. This young woman still has dreams, and she wants to go to college. She puts her 1 1/2 year old daughter to bed each night, stays up to do her homework in a 3 bedroom apartment among 7 other family members.

I've heard countless stories all unique... It is hard to wrap my head around so many of them. Often, I cannot.. I can't take the pain away, I cannot fix the lives of those around me. I can only pray, and acknowledge that my liberation is bround up with theirs...