Intention in Three Bracelets

Like so many people, the events of the past week have torn me apart. Violence. Hatred. The incredible abandonment of any true definition of leadership by the highest post in the land - worse than that, encouragement of distrust and destruction by an elected official. 

I've been reading Be the Bridge by Latisha Morrison and am grateful for her voice and hope for reconciliation. She lays out a framework for racial reconciliation (or, let's be honest, reconciliation of any kind) of lamentation to confession and forgiveness  to restorative reconciliation. But right now, I'm just stuck in lamentation and confession for the brokenness of our nation and our collective responsibility and guilt. I think it's ok to hang out here in lamentation - it's an appropriate response.

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions - the stats on how quickly the average resolution is broken (80% are broken by February) tell me that resolutions are not a great formula for change. 

But I do like the emerging trend of a word or intention for the new year. My friend Sarah and I always compare notes on our new year's intentions, and this year we both chose the same word: Gentle.

I struggle with the concept of self-care... I can never quite decide if something good for me "counts" as self-care or not, even if it doesn't make me feel good in the moment. I find the notion stressful (the opposite of the purpose of the concept of "self-care"). But in the last few months, I've come to embrace the concept of being gentle with myself. It may be hard for me to decide if a given choice is "self-care," but it's easy for me to identify whether or not a choice is gentle.

And I have emphatically determined that I need more gentleness in my life. 

This month, my heart and my intentions are well-summarized by three bracelets I've been wearing regularly to celebrate and remember my intention:

1. A cross. For faith. For redemption. For new life. For hope.
2. Noonday's We See Color bracelet. More redemption - it provides a living wage to artisans in Uganda and is a visible celebration of all the colors of us. It reminds me to continue my inner and outer work of racial education and reconciliation.
3. Noonday's Morse Code Bracelet Kit. Redemption part three - the beads are made from artillery shells that artists in Ethiopia melt down. It's violence and conflict transformed into hope, dignity, and beauty. And I used the beads to spell this year's intention, "gentle."
   

I know none of this is going to heal the world. But these symbols of hope and redemption around my wrist are meaningful reminders for me of the work God's doing in me and through me. And I love that.