Ten years ago we spent Christmas
in South Africa, three months into our nine month wander around the world, a
journey that ultimately led us to North Carolina for three years and then
Washington DC. This is the tenth year we have created our collage card capturing a few of our favourite photos from the year - something we first did after returning from our wanderings 10 years ago. A lot
has happened in the past decade. Whether you have walked with us all this time or
are a new friend, know that we are grateful for your friendship as you have
accompanied us on our wanderings.
Our card this year features photos primarily taken from our Bali trip. To see most of our other cards from past years go here.
I have lots of thoughts as we end this year, another tumultuous year in this country and around the world, but I'll simply close wishing you peace and hope with this poem brought to my attention from my friends at Street Psalms. For the full link go here.
Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope—
Not the prudent gates of Optimism,
Which are somewhat narrower.
Not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense;
Nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness,
Which creak on shrill and angry hinges
(People cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through)
Nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of
“Everything is gonna’ be all right.”
But a different, sometimes lonely place,
The place of truth-telling,
About your own soul first of all and its condition.
The place of resistance and defiance,
The piece of ground from which you see the world
Both as it is and as it could be
As it will be;
The place from which you glimpse not only struggle,
But the joy of the struggle.
And we stand there, beckoning and calling,
Telling people what we are seeing
Asking people what they see.
- Victoria Safford
Posts
