Light and dark
wherever we go, we go together
Hi friend. I’m so glad you’re here.
As we transition together from the Raised Catholic podcast community to the My Little Epiphanies Substack community, I’m aware that this newsletter is landing in your inbox on maybe the most contentious Tuesday of the year so today I’ll keep it short and sweet, but with some of the elements you can expect from each week’s newsletter moving forward: a reflection, some photographs that I hope will serve as mini-meditations, some recommended resources, a prayer, and a replay of a Raised Catholic podcast episode or some earlier writing of mine. I hope it’s all helpful, and I’m so grateful that you’re here. Let me know in the comments what you’d like to see more or less of as we move forward, and please tell me a bit about yourself, too. I’d love to hear from you.
Reflection: We are Family
In the lead up to this presidential election, I’ve been on the edge of my seat, and I know I’m not alone. It is not hyperbole to say that we are making a choice that will determine the future course for this country and the differences between the visions of the two candidates are stark. I had a few days there last week that I could feel the fear viscerally in my body, for the dark road our country might choose to walk and the lack of control I had about any of it. At the end of the day, I had donated, got the lawn sign, filled out the voting reminder postcards, and voted early. I have done what I could, and now we wait and see, though waiting and seeing has never been my strong suit1.
It's hard to put my trust in a process when one side is loudly telegraphing the ways in which they might disrupt or disenfranchise, but the harder part for me is how we will move forward when we are so divided – when it seems that we can’t even agree on what is true. How do we trust God with something as big as that?2
In those early months of the COVID pandemic, we had a sense of our connection to each other. Our actions had an impact, our sacrifice might mean keeping another human from a horrific death, the music-making and cheers of city apartment dwellers might keep the medical community going in a super challenging time, donations and communal zooms and porch drop-offs were showing our love of neighbor3. The invisible web of our connection to each other was becoming visible – a veil had been lifted on how true it really is that we belong to each other as a Body. But rather than absorbing that reality for the long haul, we’ve retreated to our corners, built our walls and silos, strengthened our defenses. I’m not sure how we can move forward in this posture, as a country and as a Church. Thankfully, God knows.
So, maybe today is a hard day to trust. Hard to remember that God has us no matter what. But for sure it’s a day to remember that where we go, we go together. Today let’s remember that we’re family, a Body, and what affects one affects us all as we walk out our paths together, much more connected than we know.
What I’m listening to, reading, and watching:
Instagram follow: Sharon McMahon, former government teacher for non-partisan coverage of current events
Song: Common Ground, by Matt Maher featuring Dee Wilson
Song: O Love, by Elaine Hagenberg and the Beckenhorst Singers
Let us pray:
God of love, we belong to you. Restore our clarity and faith in each other and let us walk a light path in your kind Providence. For us and our dear ones we pray in the name of Jesus and wrapped in the mantle of Our Mother, Mary, amen.
Raised Catholic/My Little Epiphanies rewind:
Communal Lent - Raised Catholic 64 - transcript and link to episode
Reflection: “Flowers” - November, 2016
Reflection: “Last Day” - a meditation on my Mom’s last day when we celebrated her last Christmas early on November 4, 2012 and what might have been happening behind the scenes. This is maybe one of my favorite pieces of writing ever and I hope it gives you some hope today.
This statement is my entry for “understatement of the year.”
by remembering that God is much bigger - yes, I know ;)
Who is your neighbor, anyway? Here’s what Jesus has to say.