Before the wheels left the ground, the pilot told us that our descent would likely be bumpy. It was a bit turbulent, though I have experienced far worse. I wonder if it felt calmer because he prepared us with that expectation.
This week, I have been thinking a lot about expectation and the unexpected. You don’t need me to tell you that our lives are filled with both. But I have been wondering about the beliefs we carry about each, and how those beliefs shape our imagination.
Recently, I spoke with someone who has experienced something remarkably tragic. And at the very same time, she is witnessing new life that no one thought was possible. These have unfolded side by side. I don’t want to frame the second as a silver lining. It feels important to honor grief for what it is and give it the space it needs. And still, we found ourselves talking about how goodness can accompany pain, often unexpectedly. “The mystery of goodness,” a friend and I call it.
This weekend, many people will enter three days that honor the pain of an unjust death, followed by the unexpected arrival of resurrection.
Within this story, and beyond it, isn’t it true that they often come together? There may be seasons when we need to give more space to one than the other. But still, they often arrive side by side. And thankfully, in community, we are able to hold them both together.
—Renee Roederer
We Shake with Joy
We shake with joy, we shake with grief.
What a time they have, these two
housed as they are in the same body.
— Mary Oliver, Evidence
Smuggling Grace 