Thoughts in These Times of COVID

Thoughts on Henri Nouwen: “Healing means moving from your pain to the pain.”

My pain, my grief, and my fear are not just my pain, grief, and fear; it is my portion of the pain, the grief, and the fear of my shared humanity. Healing comes with the realization that it is the pain of humanity in which I am participating. For the vast majority of us, our individual portion of humanity’s pain is only a relatively small and seemingly disproportionate share. I can hold up my end. It would not be decent of me to expect someone else to bear my portion.