The O Holy Night lyrics get me every year.
I cry.
Usually, it’s these words that resonate:
“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.”
We can all relate.
We’re hopeful, we’re tired, we’re putting our faith in something BIGGER…
We’re putting our faith in the promise that tomorrow, we get a do-over.
In these COVID times, we’re all here for that, right?
We are exhausted.
We are tired in a way that we haven’t been before: emotionally, physically, spiritually.
We want a new year, a new hope, an uneventful ending to what has been a trying, lonely and overwhelming powder keg of a year.
There’s more.
This year, though… I heard something new in O Holy Night… something that never quite resonated before. It’s in the third verse:
“Truly he taught us, to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.”
Boom.
It’s been a year of conflict, loss and anger.
I have been furious this year.
Politics. Loss. Senseless deaths. Human rights violations. Virtual school. (Seriously.)
The division between us and them has grown deeper, and more intense and aggressive.
I’ve been heartbroken and disappointed, indignant and furious, sorrowful and overwhelmed.
And I don’t think I’m the only one…
All of these feelings have clouded my heart and mind like steam on a mirror.
And then I hear this:
“Truly he taught us, to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.”
Hmm… Let that sink in.
Clear the fog, get back to the heart of the matter.
Our job is to reflect, LOVE.
Love one another.
Religious affiliation aside, a call to love one another in peace…
…it resonates.
As it turns out, our “new and glorious morn” is just around the corner, if we so chose to embrace it.
I hope you feel that thrill of hope.
I hope your weary soul rejoices.
I hope that you are able to open your heart to love and peace… and even share it. Spread it.
I also hope that you hear something new in an old song and that you feel it in your core, my friends.
May you feel the thrill of hope this week, my friends. May your weary heart be filled with love and peace.
xo,
Kylee
![When I was a kid, my Mom would sometimes go to the grocery store at night while my baby sister and I were "supposed" to be sleeping. Baby sister slept, I stood by the window and watched for her headlights to turn back into the driveway, my stomach a gnarled mess while I waited.
The entire time she was gone I would create ill-fated stories in my mind that would ultimately leave her injured, kidnapped, or left for dead... I think these stories got worse after my Dad died. "What if I lose my one parent?"
I would stand there and worry.
And she always came back.
In one piece.
Over time, after therapy when I was younger, I realized that worrying doesn't shape anything... worrying doesn't CHANGE the outcome... but, it's real.
Telling someone not to worry is about as effective as telling someone not to cry when they're in the midst of full-sobbing or it's like asking someone WHERE they lost the thing that they lost.
"I can't find my keys."
"Where did you lose them."
[silence]
"Um, if I knew where I lost them, then..."
::
This time that we're living through right now is BIG and heavy and for the love of ALL THINGS HOLY it keeps on going.
I remember watching The Sound of Music when I was a kid and wondering when in the WORLD it would end. We're STUCK in the Sound of Music.
Schools opened, then closed.
Masks on, then off.
Life started, and stopped.
We've missed get-togethers and holidays.
Weddings and births.
We are as disconnected as ever.
Our worrying and concern and fear and anxiety is there... and it's real.
I see you.
I know this time is hard.
I'm not going to tell you to stop feeling the feelings, I just want you to know that I'm feeling them, too. (And therapy is helping.)
Get yourself a therapist.
Talk about all of this.
As I told one of my girls this week, “It’s ok not to be strong all the time.”
With love,
Ky](https://kyleebroughton.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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