Oswald's message today is not an easy one. I believe it to be true. I have witnessed its truth, but I cannot say that I eagerly welcome it into my life.
"If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people" -- Oswald.
Most recently, I have seen this truth in my friend Sarah's life. Seven years ago, Sarah gave birth to a stillborn baby girl, whom she and her husband named Grace. I write about Sarah and Grace here with extreme caution because I do not want to give the impression in any way that I grasp what my friend has been through or continues to go through. I just know that I see how she nourishes other people from her own pain and loss. I followed her blog during the month of May, the anniversary of Grace's birth, and over the years, I have noted her fierce compassion toward mothers experiencing like tragedy.
Sarah has modeled for me what it means to receive oneself in the fires of sorrow and to be nourishment for other people's souls. I see the beauty that he has wrought in her, but I would never want to justify or trivialize the cost. I think Sarah herself wrote somewhere that she would trade everything -- all the ways Grace's death has stretched and grown and expanded her -- to have Grace herself, alive and well, her 7-year-old, first-grade self.
I think Oswald has hit on a truth, but it is certainly not an easy one, not even a particularly welcome one.
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