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October
2008
Reflection
Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times
“I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my innermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But…that is not what great ships are built for…
…This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful, earth.”
––Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.
excerpt from Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times
Copyright © 2003. Appeared in The Notch by Alvan T. Fisher
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Monthly Practice:
 | During the month of October, focus on three good deeds and good words that would help you and others during troubled times. Pema Chodron reminds us in her book, When Things Fall Apart, that, “The kinds of discoveries that are made through practice have nothing to do with believing in anything. They have more to do with having the courage to let go, the courage to trust continually.”
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| During challenging times when fear may get ignited, the Masai remind us that is a time when we must “Get larger, go deeper, but not smaller.” Getting larger is a way of trusting our experience, gifts and talents; going deeper is a way of becoming more resourceful; and constricting, or getting smaller cuts our creativity in half. The major function of fear is to constrict energy. Notice where you may be in places of fear. and how can you begin to address your fear by “getting larger and going deeper”, rather than constricting?
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| Take some time each day to reflect on, “It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to earth, who you serve, and who sent you here.” What action do I want to take that will serve my deepest calling and purpose while I am here on this “beautiful, needful earth.”?
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