In my faith tradition, it is Good Friday, a day strangely named because it marks suffering and death. In light of this, I'm sharing a Love + Hope story with you today, pressing pause on our exploration of the examen.

This story holds a question my heart has asked since I was a girl and while Good Friday crystallizes it, all stories of rupture, violence, death, and dislocation bring this question to my heart's surface.

Essentially, it is a bridge question, not so much about moving from death to life (in all the ways that can happen), but more about moving from life to loving the world that brought you dislocation, pain, suffering, and loss to begin with.

Like most things I illustrate, this story comes from my own experiences with Love. And also like most things I share, there is no one-size-fits-all answer here. But I was given an invitation to keep traveling with my question and with Love, and I hope I can extend the same to you, regardless of our traditions or where we find ourselves on our spiritual paths.

One last thing:

For all the days you have tried to love and live with care and devotion and found yourself hurt or wounded, with wave after wave of hardship crashing on you, or grief besieging you, Love sees and shares your struggle. For all the days you get back up again and carry on, best you can, with ragged hope, Love sees and shares your tenacious faith in what is good. Our days may always be a mix of suffering and new life, but in the midst of your pain, your healing, and your reconnection with the world, you are not forgotten. All of it matters. All of it, and all of you is held in Love.

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