In the grandmother's eyes .
So much love and sorrow.
Tears for the sores and broken hearted.
Love for the children; sons of God.
In the grandmother's eyes.
The hurts of aeons.
The pain of a thousand wounds
Of hearts and minds.
This is my grandmother.
And yours and yours.
This is me, and you and him.
Here are the hearts already broken
Opening, holding .
Healing .
Our christ within.
This icon is of the Greek Orthodox Church
Taken from the website orthodoxmonasteryicons.com
The words are mine.
I came across the website looking for inspiration on being a grandmother. We have so little guidance in our culture on how to grow into a sacred human,a Buddha or a Christ. No community rites of passage, little community responsibility. We base our lives largely upon individualism. Take a message from Thich Nhat Hanh, a loved Buddhist teacher who communicated on the theory of "Interbeing " .
The grandmother is quite often a challenging, difficult place and a wonderful, glorious place aswell. We occupy a vast space of paradox and seeming contradiction. How can we walk in balance. How can we become wise elders.
Now approaching my sixty-fifth birthday, this mission is becoming vitally important, to myself and within my community.
I suspect I might not be alone.
Remember: it's not necessary to have grandchildren to be a "grandmother". Grandmother is an attitude of Heart.
With love and gratitude.