Gifford Volunteer Chaplain Kathy Rohloff shares her personal reflections in this blog post. Kathy and all of our volunteer chaplains offer a nonsectarian presence. If you need someone to listen, and hear you with compassion, you can reach them by calling the Rev. Tim Eberhardt at 802-728-2107.
By Kathy Rohloff
For all of our lives, we will be called upon to endure.
We will have to live through and in supremely hard situations. These will tax the very foundation of who we are or who we have always thought we were.
How we respond will reveal our strengths as well as our weaknesses. In the revealing we must not despair of what we are not. This is the time to become who we want to be.
Sometimes in long relationships there may develop an edge to every conversation, a frustration in unspoken comments.
This is the time to stop and remember.
There were conversations that lasted for hours, laughter that was spontaneous and overflowing, strong embraces after heartache, and the joy and mystery of someone who understands and remains.
It is still there buried in the everyday. Search for it.
On any given day or year new aches and pains occur, the car and furnace both need repair, a check bounces due to insufficient funds, and the list of needs is never-ending.
Recall hard financial times in the past that were survived, other physical ailments that were lived through, and hold on to hope because there will be a way through to the other side.
This morning the loss of a loved one pulls and tears at our heart. There is a constant keening of anguish in our soul again.
Expect and accept the tears and deep sadness. Be thankful for the memories made, connect with others to share and reflect, then live purposefully in the light that their life gave to you.
Hold on today and tomorrow and for the rest of the days given.
Endure.
To endure means to remain in existence.
We need to live.
Each day we are given the choice of how we express that.
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