Dear Why Team member,
Thinking of you during this difficult time.
I remember the evening I sat beside my mother’s bed after she had just been admitted to hospice. She was stable, awake, and aware—and I was in tears. My mother had stood by me like no one else in my life. I had regrets. I wished I had spent more time with her, yet she offered nothing but comfort and encouragement to me—until the very end.
About a month before my mother died, she said to me, “Honey, I didn’t come to stay, I came to pass.” Clearly, the quality of a book or a movie does not depend on its length. To live well with the time we’ve been given—whether long or short—is a calling for all of us.
In time, I came to see that I had not lost my mother, but rather had been blessed to have her in my life.
We know that our thoughts profoundly affect our lives.
I first read Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr 18 years ago. Recently, while re-reading my highlights, I came across this profound insight:
“Most people become their thoughts. They do not have thoughts and feelings; the thoughts and feelings have them.”
To avoid becoming like “most people,” it stands to reason that our thoughts must stand up to reason. Any fear of bringing our thoughts into the light may very well indicate that they need the light. We either possess our thoughts, or they possess us.
Attending to our thoughts, taking responsibility for them, and being willing to challenge them is a powerful path of growth. We must never lose that freedom.
May our hearts and prayers be with Charlie and his family—and with our Country.
-Steve Luckenbach
"We either possess our thoughts, or they possess us."