Excerpts from a lovely book my Brazilian friend lent me, set in Zimbabwe during its social upheaval, by J. Nozipo Maraire:
There coexists the timeless poverty of the villages, the fear, the old prejudices, the familiar injustices, and the eternal existence of evil. These things have not changed; my parents saw them before me and you shall observe them after me.
But I have loved, and surely this is enough. It is to have tasted from the cup of milk and honey.
Courage is, after all, to take great risks--and in loving, I have known the pain of risk and loss.
I no longer see the world as ready-made, requiring only that we occupy our own little spot and do unto others as we would have them do unto us as they taught me at the Sunday School in Chakowa Mission...I am coming to understand that this world is as yet unfinished. There is no Eden here save the one we create for one another. Our mission is to complete and preserve the work that was started.
It can be terribly difficult at times to be at peace within. I wanted a smooth life. But I have learned that the furrows and ridges of inconsistency and pain are the very contours that give life a meaningful form.
And, from Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love:
The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving, self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.
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