Just Wait Awhile and Things Will Change

Probably one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received is "just wait awhile and things will change." Yesterday I was laying low after a very busy weekend. My daughter was sick and so I rested while also taking time to be Mommy. Then, out of the blue, my resigned elder called me. I listened and I could tell she had come a long way since last week, really wanting to make the efforts needed to continue in leadership. And so I invited her back into active elder-ing and she accepted, asking me to make sure that those on her committee would still accept her leadership. At this time there is a unanimous desire for her to return to leadership so I am very thankful.

Her experience taught me a few things. First, I don't really know how to deal with people when they are angry with each other. When I called one of my mentors to discuss the situation, he told me to leave it alone. I guess what he was saying was, wait awhile and things will change. Second, I learned that leadership is frequently about feeling anger and injustice, yet looking deeper within ourselves and recognizing the need to forgive others and ourselves so we can continue the work we are called to do. When we (I) are (am) angry, a frequent response is just to bail. But the experience of the last couple of weeks told me that rather than bailing, sometimes we just need to give ourselves some space to wrestle with the whole picture. Silence is often more important than reactivity.

And so life here is back to "normal" whatever that means.