I went to see a colleague in the cancer center. We talked about a workshop we’re leading together.
As I was leaving the cancer center, a group of four or five people were gathered close to the nurses station.
A fellow had just finished his treatments and was ‘ringing the bell.’ He read the short little poem on the wall. He rang the bell and everyone (including me) clapped and clapped.
Sometimes the heart breaks, and hopefully breaks open. Sometimes the heart swells, being glad for someone you never met and will likely never see again. Swells, the heart does, with pride and good wishes.
This is the work: to bear witness, and to cheer on the one you will never know, and to cheer on the ones you know especially well.
To keep cheering, to keep cheering, to keep cheering.
Then the broken heart heals just a bit. And the broken open heart connects with the goodness at the heart of all that is.
