so, it has been a while since i have written. mainly, because i have been out of contact and in an intensive environmental science class, which has been great. anyways, though, just wanted to let you all know that i am still alive, and i still am here.

two quick things i want to talk about: love and forgiveness. the greek word for 'to forgive' also means 'to permit.' and isn't that what forgiveness is? if you forgive someone, it does not change the past. only your perception of it changes. you now look right at what they did and you permit it. in the words of the beatles, you let it be. interesting how a linking verb can do so much in language and thought.

and love. what is love? i think there must be this aspect of 'letting it be,' because we cannot change who people have been, nor can we force them to change, but we can partner in their story. the hebrew scriptures use the language of 'becoming one flesh,' but even deeper than that is when two separate stories, each emerging from their different sources, begin to blend together, distinct but inseparable. so, it is with friends. we have people in our lives without whom we cannot tell our stories without mention of them. so, what is love? perhaps it is telling our stories with each other. telling our stories with compassion, feeling, depth.