Writing toward compassion
“I don’t know Who set all this pain and glory in motion, but I bow in thanks for the sweet puzzle of it all.” Brian Doyle, The Thorny Grace of It
WRITING PROMPT Brian Doyle was a prolific writer in several genres who admonished all of us to be “collectors of small, true stories.”
As the contemplation step of a reading from his essay, consider how your “ferocious attention” to your personal suffering and that you see in the world might inspire you to more kindness, compassion and mercy. Choose one of your daily struggles, no matter how big or small, and describe the “thorny grace” it brings along with trial. When you suffer next time, will this new perspective help you accept God’s plan?
Related Resources
Pray: Listen to a guided meditation using this text.
Interview: Host Jean Kelly talks to Rev. Heidi Haverkamp, author of a Lenten devotional, about struggle.