Gentle Reminders

During opening workshops for this school year, one of my colleagues shared about the idea of “gentle reminders.” How we can sometimes distance ourselves from faith and begin to feel like our efforts have been fruitless. It is then that gentle reminders tend to show up to renew our energy and light our path. For my colleague, it was seeing former students who greeted her warmly and let her know she had made a difference in their time at our school.

Nature is good at delivering gentle reminders too. A peaceful evening sky to help us wind down and appreciate the busy day we just had, the work we did. Growing daylight in the early morning, gently bringing a new day with a fresh start, gently telling us that yesterday is done, tomorrow isn’t here, so be fully present here. Tapping into this presence, we become a messenger of gentle reminders to others around us.

Our bodies gently reminding us when to slow down and rest, and when to push up the last hill.

My recovering heart and soul gently, and sometimes not so gently, reminding my alcoholic mind to stay tuned in to the right channels.

When I walked into our staff lounge at school last Tuesday, someone had left a gentle reminder that was just what I needed at the end of a busy stretch—a smiling scrub brush.

Lighten up. Brighten up. This is serious work, but also fun and silly. I don’t know which colleague left this gentle reminder, so I give a blanket thank you to the amazing and energized people I work with.

I couldn’t help but think of this brush just a couple of days later, when pictures of the Annunciation Church shooting victims were shared by their families. The innocent and joyful faces of two children named Fletcher and Harper.

The Annunciation Church and School community need prayers and acts of support and healing, and we ALL need actions we can take. If we don’t want fear, disconnection and hate to win, we must help love win.

Give and receive gentle reminders that we each matter, that we are loved just as we are.

Honor Harper and Fletcher and all victims by spreading love and hope. It CAN BE as simple as a smile and a warm hello. It can be so much more too. Action is key. Opportunities await in the day ahead. Gentle reminders.

And a fitting — WORD FOR THE DAY — to close this post:

In times of turmoil and danger, gratitude helps to steady and ground us. It brings us into presence, and our full presence is perhaps the best offering we can make to our world.

-Joanna Macy-