Silver Linings

Being in a position

to look back

with perspective

upon six decades of living—

I’ve noticed there are valleys in life

we all are called to walk.

I may not have experienced

your particular ‘hard’,

but I’ve known heart ache,

some deep levels of despair—

seasons of valley-walking.

There’s no shame in this,

it’s the human experience,

common ground for us all.

It allows us to empathize,

to cultivate compassion

for one another.

Together,

we ease each other’s burdens.

This is the good

that comes out of the hard—

the silver lining of suffering.

We are better together.