I had my 70th birthday earlier this year, made so special by my family organising a very boozy cocktail party for us all🍸
Sometimes this count of years feels heavy and if I’m really honest, a bit intimidating. Then there are moments like this morning as I put my lipstick on in front of the mirror and my gallus inner child started rolling around laughing at the absurdity of these numbers.
But introspection comes with the territory, especially as I have two granddaughters I long to bequeath a better world to. Given the chaos and apparent darkness in every news report every day, it can be challenging to hold onto Hope, can’t it?
And yet …
* In my lifetime I have lived in a world which was picking itself up after a devastating war and striving to make a better future
* I have seen a wall of tyranny pushed over brick by brick and a nation reunited across the rubble
* I live in a world where after the unimaginable destruction of nuclear bombs in Japan, we have kept ourselves from the brink of using them again
* I have delighted in Great Lakes and mighty rivers cleansed and made havens for wildlife once more, even when we thought it was impossible
* I’ve lived the possibility that a great Storm was calmed by the loving thoughts of millions
* Through incredible technology I have watched famine and want, resistance and change and been able to help
* And I have offered prayers in a world where people don’t have to accept organised religion but who are still moral and loving and their own voice of God
* But I also live in a world of bombings and torture, disease and poverty, greed and corruption and I know that we are not perfect
We are human and doing our best for ourselves and our children and every moment our best is getting a little better … inspite of what the media would have us believe.
The sun still pours its glory on us, the earth still feeds us and holds us and we give thanks. New challenges push us to climb the heights of our potential and we do step by step.
We are guided by Love - the love of our families, our countries. Love for our neighbours and for this world which is ours and to which we belong as surely as a child to a mother.
Have hope. Be joyful and tender. Love every drop of your Life. It is not perfect … but it is Magnificent
Love in all the dimensions
Susan x
