I find all of these inspirational quotes very applicable to how I’m feeling about the policy changes the Church made earlier this month affecting LGBTQ members and their families.
“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.”
― John F. Kennedy
“I finally figured out that not every crisis can be managed. As much as we want to keep ourselves safe, we can’t protect ourselves from everything. If we want to embrace life, we also have to embrace chaos.”
― Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Breathing Room
“Insanity is everyone expecting you not to fall apart when you find out everything you believed in was a lie.”
― Shannon L. Alder
“Sometimes you need a little crisis to get your adrenaline flowing and help you realize your potential.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle
“In every crisis, doubt or confusion, take the higher path – the path of compassion, courage, understanding and love.”
― Amit Ray, Nonviolence: The Transforming Power
“Feelings are your guide. Trust your feelings and learn to express them, and do not blame anyone for how you feel. Be yourself, observe yourself. Look to understand any crisis you have been in or will be in.”
― Barbara Marciniak, Family of Light: Pleiadian Tales and Lessons in Living
“When the times are a crucible, when the air is full of crisis, those who are the most themselves are the victims.”
― Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
“But there was a special kind of gift that came with embracing the chaos, even if I cursed most of the way. I’m convinced that, when everything is wiped blank, it’s life ‘s way of forcing you to become acquainted with and aware of who you are now, who you can become. What is the fulfillment of your soul?”
― Jennifer DeLucy
“If outer events bring him to a position where he can bear them no longer and force him to cry out to the higher power in helplessness for relief, or if inner feelings bring humiliation and recognition of his dependence on that power, this crushing of the ego may open the door to grace.”
― Paul Brunton, The Notebooks of Paul Brunton
“Through each crisis in my life, with acceptance and hope, in a single defining moment, I finally gained the courage to do things differently.”
― Sharon E. Rainey
“The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”
― Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks
Please feel free to share those things that may be helping you heal, gather hope or make sense of what is currently happening within our Mormon community.
Natasha Helfer Parker can be contacted at natashaparker.org.