Reflections

“I am not okay.”

 

I said these four words last week to trusted colleagues. I needed to be honest and vulnerable about where I was and how I was feeling. I am deeply troubled by the events in our nation and in the world since Jan 1, and this does not include the events of 2025.

 

Thankfully, I have a great support system of trusted colleagues, friends, a spiritual director, and a therapist. As I talked with some of them, they too admitted their own feelings of being “not okay”. It was comforting to know that I was not in this alone, although it pains me to know that others are feeling this as well.

 

And then, almost as a gift from God, a friend sent me a poem by Jarod K. Anderson. It was like cool water on a hot day. I share it with you here:

 

“I am not okay.

So, in the absence of okay,

what else can I be?

 

I can be gentle.

I can be unashamed.

I can turn my pain into connection.

I can be a student of stillness.

I can be awake to nature.

I can sharpen my empathy

against the stone of my discomfort.



I am not okay,

but I am many worthy things.”

 

So, even as the world turns and bad things happen, even when I am not okay, I am many worthy things, and beloved child of God is at the top of that list.

 

David+