Healing from trauma

We all have our emotional story to tell of the morning of 9/11. You know where you were; you know what you were doing; you know who you were with when this tragedy struck.

The processing of the news and motivation of this day imprinted a message on our hearts.

For many, it was a message of destruction, fear and grief.

For others, it was a message of survival.

Regardless of the message we integrated that day, we all made promises to ourselves.

Promises to reach out to loved ones whom we’d let fall away or promises to give more and help more.

What promises did you make to yourself that day?

Our human spirit is ignited when we are reminded that life is a precious gift and that every day is a blessing.

We are called to do more and find more meaning in our life for ourselves and for the people in our life.

And as we give more, connect more and love more, we begin to rebuild this house of faith within us, brick by brick, wall by wall.

The sun rose the morning of September 11, 2001 illuminating a world full of trust and innocence and set on a world filled with fear, doubt and destruction.

Many houses of faith fell that day.

There have been 7,665 sunrises since this pivotally tragic day.

The most painful shift in our world was one that made us begin to question and lose faith that this world is inherently good.

Since then, foundations have been laid and gorgeous memorials have been resurrected.

Just like the bricks that have been thoughtfully replaced on the streets of New York, our faith grows back slowly often by collecting evidence that life will bless us and that we can be a blessing to others too.

We heal one event and one memory at a time, just like laying bricks.

When a large scale tragedy occurs, it’s as if our faith house is knocked down and we are left with few, if any, bricks remaining standing. Over time, we experience an event or an encounter that reminds us that life is good and people can be trusted and we metaphorically cement a faith brick back into our wall.

As we place more bricks on our wall, we may even come to realize that life is always blessing us through all events in our life and our bricks build a house of faith.

As we find gratitude for the events in our lives that bless us, large and small, we are reminded that life is good and is always working for us.

How has life blessed you since September 11, 2001? How have you blessed the world since then? How are you sharing your gifts and healing the world with your talents that are born uniquely to you?

With each offering we give others and each ounce of gratitude we feel, we place another brick back into the walls of our internal faith house. Over time, our walls will feel complete once again and perhaps even surpass what stood there before, realizing our perseverance and resiliency can weather any encounter.

We can live in a house of faith that will protect us moving forward, knowing that we are called to help, bless and love one another.

Join me for today’s meditation, Finding faith again, as we continue to build faith and trust again within our hearts.

See you in meditation.

Much love,
Erin

Erin Garay