Crisis. This is the label we put on our pain at the point at which it can no longer be hidden. The truth is, of course, that a crisis exists in varying stages long before it is visible.
The hurt.
The illness.
The mistake.
The unexpected.
Strangely, it is the radical acceptance that events progress that offers us hope.
Not so long ago, it was my family in crisis. It was at that time that I received an email. The words had been carefully chosen. To my surprise, rather than offering a “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” message, the sender rightly stated a simple yet irrefutable truth: “God is always working.”
I must confess, at first reading, the statement struck me as a bit trite. Tell me that you feel my pain. Tell me that I’ll be carried up and over (not through) the catastrophic.
In the end, however, this tender communication accomplished its work: it reminded me that healing was already underway. Even if I couldn’t see it.
To accept that God is always working is to accept the radical assurance that:
Every day is different.
We only see in part.
Healing is always available.
There is a next step that awaits us.
Radical Acceptance 