It feels like 2020 already has been a really long year while at the same time flying by. Finding moments of pause in the hectic schedule of each week are rare. Finding moments to be still and breathe are few and far between. I grow weary. I forget to look around and be grateful for the world aroundme. I begin to move through the motions just to survive, and I forget to live.
Many years ago, Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor was invited to speak at a church in Alabama. She asked the priest what he wanted her to speak about and he said, “Come tell us what is saving your life right now.” Taylor paused and realized the incredible gift the priest had given her. She did not have to use fancy theological language. She did not have to come up with a groundbreaking topic that would wow the congregation. She did not have to make a profound statement about God. The priest gave her the opportunity to be herself, to pause, breathe, to figure out what her life depended on and to share that and invite others to discern the same thing for themselves.
I often find myself thinking about this question from the priest, especially in seasons of life when I feel like I am merely surviving. This question gives me the time to breathe, reflect and be grateful for the things and people in my life that are keeping me alive.
One of my favorite days of the year is later this week — Galentine’s Day. Every February 13, since the beloved Parks and Recreation episode aired 10 years ago, women far and near gather to celebrate each other over breakfast food. It’s a day to celebrate the relationships that are saving your life. It’s a day to take time and gather around the table and be grateful for one another and to acknowledge that you could not make it without the people gathered there.
While Galentine’s Day is a day for “ladies celebrating ladies,” the sentiment of the day applies to any and every one: we should celebrate and be thankful for one another. Every year, I find that Galentine’s Day and the women I get to celebrate with are one of the many things that are saving my life.
So, what is saving your life right now?