"In the end one has to discard shields and remain open and vulnerable. Otherwise, scar tissue will seal off the wound and no growth will follow. To grow, to be reborn, one must remain vulnerable -- open to love but also hideously open to the possibility of more suffering." -- Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The book Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead is a compilation of Lindbergh's dairies and letters between the years 1929 and 1932. The hour of gold is of the years when she met and married Charles Lindbergh; the hour of lead, the years when their baby boy, Charles, Jr., was kidnapped, including the time of the trial of his kidnapper.
I read the book in 1974, and it opened me to possibilities beyond my imagining. It was akin to reading my own diary...written by me in another time and place. And believe me there is nothing about my life that was or is even vaguely similar to Lindbergh's...only our inner thoughts, feelings, fears and dreams. I wrote my first and last fan letter to Lindbergh after reading this book.
It was the above quote that took my breath away when first I read it. Which it still does every single time I reread it. I am jarred by the simple truth that we must remain "hideously open to the possibility of more suffering." I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that I knew that for truth in 1974. I could just barely comprehend what remaining open and vulnerable actually meant...the idea of desiring to be vulnerable was a real heart-thumper.
This quote is so utterly true to me that it never entered my mind that my whole world wouldn't adopt it as their own...just as I wanted to. In fact, it turned more of my friends off than on. The "hideously open to the possibility of more suffering" made some go green...and they said some fairly blue things into the bargain.
The fact is, though, if we are going to live a turned-over life...if we are going to do what we say...then there is no earthly way we can weasel out of the possibility of more suffering. That is part of life's grand plan...how we deal with the suffering we deal our self (for we are our own dealer) determines how happy, joyous and free we are going to allow our life to be.
Every time we catch our self complaining, whining, being a drag on our own life and looking for someone to blame, we're simply being closed, hideously closed, to the fact of suffering, thus suffering all the more. There. That is the exact point at which we deal the dirt to our self...the instant when we pick up the mud and sling it in our own face.
Whenever we're feeling less than wonderful about anything...physical, mental or spiritual...we remember Saint Augustine has shown us how to give it to God through his, "Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt."
We can simply pray, "Thank you, God, for this gift. I'm willing for you to do your thing with it. You lead, I'll follow." Then quit kvetching and do.
Thank you.
The book Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead is a compilation of Lindbergh's dairies and letters between the years 1929 and 1932. The hour of gold is of the years when she met and married Charles Lindbergh; the hour of lead, the years when their baby boy, Charles, Jr., was kidnapped, including the time of the trial of his kidnapper.
I read the book in 1974, and it opened me to possibilities beyond my imagining. It was akin to reading my own diary...written by me in another time and place. And believe me there is nothing about my life that was or is even vaguely similar to Lindbergh's...only our inner thoughts, feelings, fears and dreams. I wrote my first and last fan letter to Lindbergh after reading this book.
It was the above quote that took my breath away when first I read it. Which it still does every single time I reread it. I am jarred by the simple truth that we must remain "hideously open to the possibility of more suffering." I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that I knew that for truth in 1974. I could just barely comprehend what remaining open and vulnerable actually meant...the idea of desiring to be vulnerable was a real heart-thumper.
This quote is so utterly true to me that it never entered my mind that my whole world wouldn't adopt it as their own...just as I wanted to. In fact, it turned more of my friends off than on. The "hideously open to the possibility of more suffering" made some go green...and they said some fairly blue things into the bargain.
The fact is, though, if we are going to live a turned-over life...if we are going to do what we say...then there is no earthly way we can weasel out of the possibility of more suffering. That is part of life's grand plan...how we deal with the suffering we deal our self (for we are our own dealer) determines how happy, joyous and free we are going to allow our life to be.
Every time we catch our self complaining, whining, being a drag on our own life and looking for someone to blame, we're simply being closed, hideously closed, to the fact of suffering, thus suffering all the more. There. That is the exact point at which we deal the dirt to our self...the instant when we pick up the mud and sling it in our own face.
Whenever we're feeling less than wonderful about anything...physical, mental or spiritual...we remember Saint Augustine has shown us how to give it to God through his, "Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt."
We can simply pray, "Thank you, God, for this gift. I'm willing for you to do your thing with it. You lead, I'll follow." Then quit kvetching and do.
Thank you.
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