Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EST December 6th 2021

10 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined for this session!

For this session we close-read an excerpt from Humility by Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner, posted below.

Our prompt for this session was a choice between: “Write about what we don’t know.” or “Write about something bigger than us.”

More details on this session will be posted, so check back!

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Please join us for our next session Wednesday December 8th at 5pm EST,  with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions page.

Photo credit: Marco Bottigelli

from Humility by Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner

Humility should not only be considered in terms of our inabilities. Countless times in my life I have been humbled by human ingenuity, kindness, selflessness, knowledge, and community. Especially in difficult, frightening, and alienating times, we must keep these assurances in mind.

I am humbled by the healthcare workers who have sacrificed so much. I am humbled by the scientists who are rushing to develop treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus. I am humbled by all those who are endeavoring to try to make the world better, to ease suffering and comfort the afflicted. And I am humbled by all of you who have joined in the community we are building.

I know we face grave challenges. And I know that pride and hubris seem ascendant. We are inundated with chest pounding, gaslighting, and caustic overconfidence. Humility can and should be an appropriate rejoinder. It is not in its essence inherently hopeful, but it can be a source of hope.

We can find solace in recognizing that there is only so much we can control and predict. There is only so much that we can know and fix. But if our mind is open to accepting the winds of change that power nature, we can recognize that change is a force for creation as well as destruction. We can find ways to regroup and rebuild, together, with humility.

10 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EST December 6th 2021”

  1. Patricia D.

    The Mysterious Unknown

    When we take that final breath-
    When the body is done with this life-
    What happens?
    What, if anything, remains?
    No one who has gone there (where?)
    has returned to assure us that, in fact,
    there is no end – only a beginning.
    I hope to be guided, somehow
    through the mysterious unknown.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  2. Pamela Poe

    When I look up, the stars are a galaxy far bigger than we are .
    Our ‘fragile island home’ is sometimes what our planet is called in the Episcopal liturgy.
    Each of us can feel like a traveler at times, poised with a backpack before
    Majestic but rapidly melting glaciers of ancient ice.
    This can be the time to pause, in front of any daunting spectacle,
    From a needy patient to a troubled student and beyond.
    Any problem that seems utterly unsolvable or an insurmountable gap.

    It is precisely from reaching beyond ourselves
    That we can find “assurances… solace… sources of hope… ways to regroup and rebuild”.
    Together.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. Elizabeth

    We know so much more,
    Than at the beginning of the pandemic.

    We have evolved,
    But so has the virus.
    It seems to keep one step ahead of us.

    Can we catch up?
    Yes, we can.
    No, we cannot.

    Which is it?
    Yes or no?
    Only time will tell.

    We only know
    That we don’t know
    Which way it will go.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  4. michele348

    What we don’t know~~~

    I don’t know where I will be tomorrow.
    Will I will be here, walking on this troubled earth,
    a world full of discord, disease, finger-pointing, trampling over others
    or
    will I be elsewhere…in a realm of discovery, kindness, love, and compassion.

    Moments of time are gifts to be used wisely, treasures that can suddenly be taken away.
    There are few second chances in this life.
    We can not control much of what the journey of life places on our path;
    what we do possess is the ability to decide the manner in which we meet these obstacles.

    Look to your right, look to your left…
    there stands a human being who is seeking the basics of life just as you…compassion, understanding, acknowledgement.
    Take a deep breath, exhale slowly.
    The person who stands beside you is not an enemy, but another who is also trying to make some sense of this journey.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. slowthunder

    I don’t know.
    I don’t know.
    No, I don’t know.
    The problem is too vast
    Permeates our society too deeply.
    Possibly it’s a generational mass psychosis
    That quite likely began when the god of Man
    Gave man dominion over nature
    And all its non-human inhabitants.
    Centuries of illusion, delusion,
    Resulting in our alienation from the source of life
    That in a sane world
    Would maintain humility.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. al3793

    What I don’t know and something bigger than me…

    I distinctly recall reflecting back in March 2020, that, “I have no way of knowing if I will be here next year, or any of those I love or who are important to me.” An unknown visitor has descended upon our planet and began its work of death and suffering, bearing down on the inhabitants of the planet like a knight’s mail, the weight of which can’t be imagined.

    Who was I to think I might be able to do this, but humility, which nurses obedience, led me to the conclusion that I must persist in the mission for which I was sent, to use my talents and skills, to be kind and to broker compassion and the good of the other in whatever little way I can.

    Andre

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Elizabeth

    Scarlet, your thoughts about man’s dominion over nature got me to think a little biblically, where there is the idea of man’s dominion over nature, but also the idea of stewardship of the natural planet. This reminds me of how we can have humility, but also self-assertion. It’s always about balance to the best of our abilities. Sometimes actions or character traits are not mutually exclusive, even though at first thing might seem to be.
    Ps—I have enjoyed the writing, reading and the discussion from last night. So much to take in. Glad we can all share with one another.

    Like

    Reply

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