Sometimes a single phrase can impact us as deeply as a long essay. Barbara Sarah sent me a statement by psychotherapist Francis Weller that I have been rolling around on my tongue and in my mind all week. The words rings true, and have been a great help to me in the wake of Maya Gold’s passing:
“The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give.”
This quote is excerpted from a very meaningful interview with Francis Weller titled “The Geography of Sorrow” that appears in the October issue of the magazine The Sun. Here’s the link, if you wish to read the entire interview: http://thesunmagazine.org/issues/478/the_geography_of_sorrow
Thank you, Barbara Sarah, for sharing this with me. I will keep stretching myself large.
Shabbat Shalom and love to all on this glorious autumn day in the Hudson Valley,
Rabbi Jonathan