Finding Fire In Dark Night Of Winter

As a part of our 3-month "Sanctuary of the Heart" series around resilience, we explore the gifts of grief this month.

Modern cultures encourage us to compartmentalize our grief, but coming home to grief is sacred work that confirms the wisdom of all spiritual traditions: that we are all deeply interconnected. Grief registers the many ways that this depth of kinship is assaulted daily; and thus, it becomes a powerful practice to remember the mutuality of our suffering and the possibility of compassion.

We opened our exploration with a beautiful orientation call with kin from around the globe. Below are some of the highlights from our sacred time together.

It began with a beautiful Hebrew Niggun by Aryae and Wendy:

That was followed by two touching poems written by Charles Gibbs:

Our feature presentation was by Lily Yeh, once described as the "Mother Teresa of community arts," is an artist whose work aims to "to spark transformation, healing and social change in places plagued by poverty, crime and despair."  From Rwanda to Palestine to Philadelphia, her life's work ignites "Fire in Dark Night of the Winter" ... as she shared, "It is in that tearing open and staring at the place that hurts the most that sorrow pours out and that creates a space for light and a future to come in gradually. I  have seen that it is possible to turn brokenness and pain into beauty and joy. It is possible to transform the destructive energy of our time into a culture of nurturing and kindness. All things are possible through the gentleness of our spirit, determination, action, and the heart that breaks open."

Below were some of the comments from the chat window, immediately after her share:

VM: so beautiful. thank you, Lily and all the community members you worked alongside with. :)

AW:  Awe

BR: Phoenix rising out of ashes - so beautiful

TK:   Nothing is ever wasted.

BS:  Your work has been a gift to humanity. Thank you.

AD:    Amazing, powerful, purposefulness! Thank you Lily.

JJ:   A great fullness! Thank you.

JT: Lily you have seen and carry so much. May all the light you have given continue to come back to you tenfold.

KC:   I want her energy.

LC: I love the broken tiles of mosaic reflecting and healing the broken hearts

BV: Inspiring & beautiful

SL:   uplifting motivation. Thank you

LS:   Thank you for breaking my heart open with those deeply moving and beautiful stories!

CG:  What a powerful blessing.

SP:  a new meaning to mosaic

PK:   Terry Tempest Williams wrote about the Rwanda project; now I get to meet the artist who led it.  Many circles intersecting.

VM: inspired by the openness of the artists/community members to turn tragedy into beauty and include all generations in the process of mosaic making, which is building beauty from brokenness

CC: So tempting to close the heart to pain but the danger of loss of love is too great; the only way to be alive is to honor pain, to stay present in love and care; to risk

DM:  SO moved by Leia Mukangwize's words: “When we see beauty, we see hope."  This inspires my purpose.

KN:   Conflicted between wanting to believe that goodness is possible... and a heaviness that pulls me down and says give up, it's pointless.

SM: Life spirit transmuted with full heart

BS:  Sorrow pouring out and making room for light. I love this.

WA:  Awe. Amazement. Wonder.

WH:    Broken hearts dignified everywhere. Thank you mama Lily for following the call to serve far and wide. You are  Beloved.

CM:    Such love for all of the people in the photos and all with whom Lily has worked

GZ:   Seeing the potential in every human is an act of resistance and resilience and can change the world.

HS: bowing

PM:  Unconditional Love in Action Deep bow to you Lily

KK:   Lily, you are so beautiful with your care and love with as much more importance to self.

SN:   The beauty of the symbolism of the mosaic form, something broken, coming together in new images to offer hope and healing. Thank you.

MK:  What beautiful resilience, love and community.

BG: flipping the switch… broken art to heal

KM:  Genuine and profound change in the world. Every peace prize already lives in Lily's heart.

KT:  A broken heart can be transformed. Amazing!

MT: ART is ACTION makes a real difference. Thanks

EC:    Finding light in so much darkness

SL:  Lily that was so inspiring for me to just hear about your contribution.

SM:   Thank you for sharing your stories of reviving lives with your art. As an artist and art therapist (in training) you inspired me (again!) In what I do.  Thank you and grateful for being here today. 

EA:   The passion and dedication, the bringing together of communities that are otherwise not accessible to the arts, to see that expression, the possibilities that our communities could yield magnifies the gifts we have, we have together.  Thank you beyond measure

SN:    Thank you for sharing, Lily. Very inspiring how you brought everyone in the design process.

LM:   I appreciate the thought that by facing the place within that hurts the most - we are preparing the space for light to come in.

SC:    The broken holds the whole

LI:    and hope resides

EJF:   My heart of love and beauty beats, sings, cries, jubilates and sighs with you within this mystery of growing LOVE

MR:    Healing

LF: Thank you Lily! for accepting your call and giving of your heart so freely to those most forgotten.  This is a resilient flow of healing out to our world and cosmos.  : )

JX:    The art of broakeness!

EE:   I love Lily's reference to mosaic art as being “the art of brokenness." Her stories of broken people working with broken pottery, making external and internal mosaics are inspiring!

LA:    Realized again, how art is healing, group art is community healing and the act of mosaic-putting together broken pieces can be so very healing! Thank you Lily for sharing your story.

LR:   I m speechless with awe and gratitude for Lily's powerful, healing force in this world.  To see the jubilant spirits in the faces and bodies of those whose lives have been profoundly changed is such a source of hope and inspiration.

LW:   The scenes and torment in Rwanda was so moving and so amazing to bring forward such love and caring. Such incredible work. Love the use of mosaic

CC: Heart wide open; no turning back. How do we reach those who are broken; to bring them into the circle of love?

LW:   My heart breaks open into a thousand pieces and I wonder at the beauty of piecing it back together into a work of art. Deep gratitude for your work.

BC: I have no words better than the words of our speaker and singers: “there is nothing more whole than a broken heart,” and “it is possible to turn brokenness and pain into beauty and joy.”

EA:   I canot think of anywhere else in the world I would rather be at this moment than to be with all of you, in harmony, in renewal  = the tearing open so that sorrow can light can come in.

XU:  When things are broken, we don’t replace them, we cherish them with love, thank you Mama Yeh!

ML:   Inspiring what loving hearts can accomplish!

As we headed into smaller group breakouts, Jane Jackson spoke about her practice of creating memory quilts after her husband passed away, and Eric spoke about a breathtaking experience of a subtle connection that was opened up with the loss of his father:

As community members shared prayer dedications, Bonnie closed it out with this summary and a meditation:

SC: In the memory of Vicky Farmer

LI: My friend who is getting a new heart today

LD: Suzanne is grieving the loss of a childhood friend who died suddently.

GZ: My dad, Jerry who is struggling with dementia

EB: thank you for joining me in praying for Judy and Yolotli Perla

CF: Hazey, Niki, James Rose

LF: Zach in current trauma.

DM: families of the children and teachers killed in Uvalde

SM: Peter in death and his families who loved him

AW: Jack and Helen, Holly, Mimi, and Mike

EA: Polly and Jeff, milies, Ukraine and rest of the world

VM: dedicated to my colleague Oskar who recently tested + for covid. wishing he faces zero to mild symptoms only and has a restful quarantine time, incl. on his b-day next Wed.

LS: The many losses we have suffered in our connected lives in recent years

YV: My late brother Tom.

KN: Varney... my first love who died so young, 34 years ago... I miss you and hope your spirit is well, somewhere....

BC: My friend Cornelia, who lost a beloved spouse of 33 years.

KT: Hold Danny Mitchell and Erin Mitchell plus their parents Kathy and Joe in your hearts. Thanks.

CG: Sister Chandru as she moves into the deeper realm, and all those who love her and are left behind.

MD: for George, to heal

LD: Pray for peace in everyone's heart so we can have peace in the world.

LI: J+B 1963

PH: Healing for my brother James and sister Pauline and Uvalde and Buffalo families

KC: For Adam and his family and friends at his "summer social" today. He is a young man dying of cancer.

JS: people of Ukraine

LW: Hawk and Dad

AD: Freda, please experience the grief...let go...to open your heart to love (again).

LA: For our political leaders; may they lead from love.

MR: 🕊a🙏❤️May peace & healing shower down on our world & hearts heal

KD: The families and community of Uvalde TX, US and all victims of gun violence

VM: wishing everyone, humans and all beings, peace, love, joy, inclusion.

WA: All the beautiful species of animals and plants on our earth that we're losing at this time.

JJ: For Garth

SL: My Dad & my brother

HS: All in grief, that they may find peace…

PKK: My Aunty Irene who struggles with dementia and Uncle Mathias who has lost his partner of 50 years even as he cares for her.

CC: To all those who are considering taking out their pain on others by violence

MML: Welll-being for loved ones: Gerda, Gary, Agnes despite varied levels of pain and suffering. Gratitude for our connectivty this morning.

MT: For how we have hurt the earth.

EA: For peace and understanding

SS: For my sister experiencing stage 4 pancreatic cancer

KM: Prayers for those who oppose sensible gun laws.

PKK: Victor and his siblings

DV: My cousin, Alan, who passed away end of January. He loved animals. Prayers for my dear cousin and his precious bird companions over the years.

IT: For my wife Rosemary Temofeh who is very ill at this moment

CM: Jola and Lisa

KD: letting go of our sacred home

EE: Sam Keen and his family

MM: Kathleen Miriam Lotte Annette Richard Thomas Bernadette Kari Anne

LW: Swaroop, Lucette and family and friends of Annleigh

EA: For those in ServiceSpace for their dedication and connecting us

IT: For all those thinking of suicide out of grief

LR: Please hold my husband, Warren, in your prayers of love healing, hope and acceptance as he recovers and restores for whatever is to come in assisted living.

CF: for all creatures

HS: the invisible angels of ServiceSpace

WF: Two little boys on New York grieving the recent loss of their daddy and more than 3000 students from Kenya feeling the loss of a great humanitarian who furnished their dreams with the gift of a paid high school education.

BM: For Abby, Travis and Emily all dealing with serious chronic health issues

PKK: All those grieving. Maliza, Estella, Elsa, Michelle, and me.

EC: For my parents who passed 4 years ago and all in Ukraine, the victims and families of the recent shootings in the US and those lost due to covid.

KMI: For fractured family relationships, may lovingkindness be poured into those fragmented spaces.

And Radhika sung us out with a mesmerizing song: