My soul tells me
we were all broken from the same nameless heart
and every living thing wakes with a piece of that original heart
aching its way into blossom.
This is why we know each other below our strangeness.
Why when we fall, we lift each other
or when in pain, we hold each other.
Why when sudden with joy, we dance together.
Life is the many pieces of that great heart loving itself back together.
~ Mark Nepo, The Exquisite Risk
Every Thursday my friend and Community Minister CB Beal offers friends a space on their Facebook page called “Shouty Thursday” and we are invited to use all caps and shout out whatever is going on in our lives. It’s our virtual joys and sorrows and people are encouraged to share without judgement, refrain from giving advice, or try to fix anything. We are encouraged to respond with kindness and love, to hold each other in care, and to bear witness. This past Thursday I posted: “Back on Facebook and looking at screens after a week of severe vertigo symptoms that physically feel like a reflection of the times we are experiencing. Everything is spinning our of control. I feel afraid to even open my eyes. Can’t move or turn my head too quickly or the room starts spinning with such force that it throws me down. Medication is beginning to dimmish intensity and duration of episodes. Good news is that stroke was ruled out and kind folks are delivering meals for Mami. I still can’t each much except for toast and bananas due to nausea. This is the result of stress and constant hyper vigilance and living in fear. Prayers welcome.”
So many people responded with heart emojis and resonated with this feeling of the world spinning out of control, throwing us down, our minds spiraling with constant anxiety and fear. Reading these responses made me feel connected to others who are also feeling afraid, triggered by the news, angry at how their wellbeing is being constantly compromised and harmed by being on high alert, fight and flight mode, triggering PTSD, while having to work and take care of their families, and/or striving to maintain their sobriety, or feeling that they are unable to be fully present, to nurture relationships, or to navigate chronic illness, or just even being present for the every day, the ordinary yet extraordinary sense of awe when in nature, or the ability to feel connected, grounded, and inspired to move forward.
Thursday is also the day when Eric, our Music Director, and I meet for supervision to plan, conspire, and dream. We share stories and create a space where we can show up just as we are. I look forward to our meetings because Eric and I have these really deeply meaningful conversations about the state of the world. Our meetings are not just about the worship calendar, the budget, or how to introduce a new hymn, but also asking each other How are you? How are you really? How is it with your heart? And really listening, not to fix, but to commiserate and relate as humans, holding the values that we do, loving the vocations that we love and inspire us, trying to keep the light of hope shining within us and among us, to illuminate our faith and our work, always asking ourselves What can I do? What can we do together to respond to all the violent speech, to the devastating news, the toxic individualism that is so culturally engrained? How can we hold our community together in gentleness and courage? What word, what story, what song can we share that can express love and compassion and be a healing balm? Can there be healing when things are falling apart? What is mine to do? What is ours to do? We share resources, snippets from our lived experience as well as from our teachers Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh among others, whose faithful dedication to the practice of mindfulness have become our refuge, illuminating our open broken hearts. I appreciate our making room for those moments of connection because they move me, they provoke that tiny little shift in my emotional landscape, and I can feel my level of stress and anxiety slowly calming down, allowing me to breathe a little easier, allowing me to bring my whole self, be present, and listen deeply. Together, we illuminate and breathe life into our collective work as we give shape to this one precious hour on Sunday morning when we open our hearts and join this community and find the answer to What do I love? What can I do? time and time again by being in your presence. We believe that building the beloved community is not some platitude. It is important. It is vital. It is life changing and lifesaving, It’s about collectively creating this brave space, this refuge in this sanctuary and in our hearts. The creation of this spiritual container, this reservoir of sweet hope, to hold us and nourish us all not just during one hour on Sunday but for the days to come. Together with all of you, we weave connections underneath and all around and share a virtual drop of honey to sweeten our day, to remind ourselves and each other that we are not alone and that life – even with all that is going on around us is still sweet, it is the sweetness of togetherness, of connection, and sharing this sweetness with you in the shape of words, songs, prayers, stories, joys and sorrows, is a blessing.
We all have such need for belonging. I am grateful for our East Shore community, inviting us to express our values and to promote healing and interconnectedness by caring for each other and our environment, and creating opportunities to minister to each other in compassion and love.
Eric and I share gratitude for the teachings of Buddhist Nun Pema Chodron a guiding light that helps us to practice being beautifully imperfect human beings. Pema writes about things falling apart…about heartbreak and losing family and devastating changes in her life breaking her heart into a million pieces. And then emerging from those million broken pieces, from that wreckage, to find her sense of belonging, the strength to reimagine and recreate herself, and then sharing her story of heartbreak with the world, connecting with all who suffer, risking everything by holding up her open broken heart writing a new narrative about herself, and becoming a teacher of the most ancient transformational and life giving practice: Breathing. In her book When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, Pema shares lessons from the broken places and how mindfulness can help us even when we are right in the middle of the storm. Pausing, breathing, being present in the moment, all can help reduce suffering in ourselves and others. When things fall apart leaving us vulnerable and afraid, it is a moment of great potential for growing our heart and for collective compassion and love. Breathing in the pain of others and out-breathing compassion and love allows one to be present to the suffering, connecting us to others in a growing movement toward greater compassion and love.
Recently Eric introduced me to Tara Brach’s podcasts and one in particular: Becoming Bodhisattvas in a Troubled World. Bodhisattvas are deeply compassionate people striving towards awakening for the benefit of all beings. In the face of evil and violence, they delay their own journey towards enlightenment to help those who are suffering. By pausing, paying attention to their own feelings, naming them, and breathing as they bring to mind and heart all who are suffering, they create a field of compassion as they pray that this compassion and love may reach and serve all who are suffering. The Bodhisattva path is both individual and collective awakening and it can be a beautiful refuge and bring our collective light forward.
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.
All things break. And all things can be mended.
Not with time as they say, but with intention.
So GO! Love intentionally and unconditionally
The broken world awaits in darkness
for the light that is you” L.R. Knost
In Tara’s podcast she says that when we experience distress our brain begins to spin, and we are on high alert wondering what’s going to happen next? What can I do?
We can take a pause and for example, consider how trees, when stressed by strong winds, grow hardwood at the core that is both strong and flexible, encouraging new roots to grow deep into ground, expanding, weaving connections with other trees. Might we, in the face of unwanted changes, devastation, and things falling apart, also respond to that stress and pain by growing our spiritual roots, reaching out, connecting to others, strengthening our core, yet remaining flexible to withstand the strong winds? Let me be clear. It’s not about romanticizing suffering or adopting a superficial “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” attitude. It is really about embracing our humanity, our vulnerability, nurturing our core values, developing the practices that can help us grow in compassion and connect with others so that through collective intention we can contribute to collective awakening.
The Boddhisatva Prayer:
“Whatever the circumstances, may this serve the awakening of compassion and wisdom And may this awakening be of benefit to all beings everywhere.”
by Rev. Dr. María Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa
Sermon Delivered on October 5, 2025
*Title borrowed from Tara Brach’s podcast. Click the link for full podcast youtube.com/watch?v=7ILIhRiLzWU