Sacred Connections: Enough
What is enough? I was talking with a friend last week who had been weathering the corona virus very well. She was in safe lodging, food available, basic needs more than being met. And yet she found herself saying that morning, “I’ve had enough of this!” After months of going with the flow, pretty much without complaint, she’d simply reached that point of enough. For many of us, we may have had that experience months ago, or encounter it frequently in unfiltered moments. “Enough is enough!"
It’s not just the restrictions, frustrations, or concerns each of us may be grappling with, shaped by our own experiences and situations. For me, it’s that sense that there are so many critical issues warranting attention and concern. I don’t need to go down the list, if we’re listening to the news, or reading the newspaper, or talking to others, we know the concerns well. Some may touch us more than others, but concern weighs heavy in the very air we breathe. There is a longing to say, “Enough!” and at least push the “pause” button if not the full “reset”. We have too much of something we didn’t ever want to start with, and that is way more than enough.
But there are other sides to enough. In reflecting on this, I found myself revisiting writing I’d done many years ago when questions about “enough” had been a theme during a personally difficult time. The first was a poem written after the death of a loved one with the recognition that there never would have been time enough. Whatever time we’d had, we would have still wanted more time to share, to grow, to love. None of us would want to prolong suffering, we are ready to let go when we know it is the loving thing to do. But when someone suddenly becomes acutely ill or dies, we may well experience the sense of a life cut short, a longing for more time together, a feeling that there wasn’t enough.
A second reference was on the anniversary of that loss. A priest/friend and I were planning to attend a noon day Eucharist in memory of our loved one’s death. Unbeknownst to us, the services were cancelled for the summer, so we were left without the holy gift of that sacrament. But I had brought along wine, cheese and crackers for us to indulge in after the service, while we treasured favorite stories of the past. We did share those in a roof top garden, and I wrote of that tender time, “… it wasn’t quite Eucharist, it was blessing enough.” Many of us are feeling deeply dismayed in our inability to receive communion in our church worship space during these times. And yet we remain united in Christ, united in community, united as one. What for us during this time might be experienced as blessing enough?
A final reference during this series was from yet another year later, feeling caught up and somewhat consumed by the busyness of life. The writing was about “simply trusting there is time, time enough” to savor the life we have. For some of us now, homes have become workplaces, and schools, and more heavily populated areas. Roles have become much more multi-faceted than only a few months ago. Time is racing by with all of this activity and all the unknowns. This earlier writing was a reminder that amongst the busyness and the challenges, there is still much to savor – perhaps in these days the precious extra time with little ones growing so fast, the unexpected time with young adults on the cusp of distant schooling or work, the sacred connections with other loved ones during such uncertain times.
Despite all the frustration, fear and uncertainty, God is fully present, and gifts still abound. Let us savor the fullness of life available to us each day, trust in the eternal nature of love, and give thanks that all our times are in God’s hands. Enough. It is enough.
