“And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.” Aeschylus
This quote made famous by Robert F. Kennedy following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. is part of American Struggle, Democracy, Dissent, and The Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, an anthology by John Meacham. In the book, RFK’s words follow a speech Martin Luther King,Jr gave in Memphis the day before he was killed. Immediately, I understood these words. I knew the moments in my own life when the grief of loss, despite my best attempts to ignore it, to out smart it, found me and became part of me. I understood, too, the less contemporary use of the word awful here. This awful is the grand and overwhelming presence of the divine, working in ways not fully apparent until later.
The beauty of a wide open sky
A quick bit of Google research revealed that Aeschylus is considered the father of tragedy. His introduction of a second character into a play was a new concept. Previously, ancient plays featured one actor interacting with the chorus. The second actor was key to creating conflict and friction.
Of course, introducing another person into our lives is where drama begins. How often have I thought that everything would be just great if not for something this person did or how that person behaved? Just as Aeschylus figured out in his plays, our lives are much more challenging and interesting because of the people we spend time with, the people we love, the people we randomly encounter each day.
Some of the wisdom I have earned:
The relationships where I feel the most judgmental often are holding up a mirror.
Acceptance and surrender do not mean that I am compromising my beliefs.
The most difficult grief is the loss of what might have been, not the reality of what really was.
