What Does it Mean to Hold Things in Love?

Wednesday Wisdom: What Does it Mean to Hold Things in Love?

Last week, I asked a rather quiet 5th grade girl to make a slight edit on her page for the class book we were making during library time about the women’s suffrage movement. When the students were working at the tables,  I saw the girl with her head down. I went over to check on her, and heard her crying. I gently asked her what was the matter, only to find out she felt devastated that she hadn’t done the assignment perfectly.

In that moment, I recognized that the girl’s response was coming from a deep, hurting place within her. It was bigger than this incident of having to change a slang word to a more formal word.  I could feel her pain, and her sense of inferiority leaked out of her with the flood of tears. She had felt she didn’t measure up, and perhaps somehow unworthy. This was not the first time I had seen her break down in tears when she answered a question incorrectly.

What could I do? I decided to let love hold her. I allowed the energy of love to fill the space between us and around us. I reassured her, gave her my acceptance and encouragement.  I couldn’t fix the depth of the situation, but I could invite the power of love to be present in the moment.

We must allow love to do what love can do.

At the end of the library time, the girl was only whimpering, not sobbing. She had made the change to her page, with the help of a caring friend, and we put it into the class book. As I was walking with her down the hallway,  I once again said, “Everything’s okay.”

How can we turn towards love to hold and heal us? 

With awareness and grace, we are able to turn towards the flow of love. We don’t hold on; we let go. We walk around loving and healing. And when we do we create a path towards the flow of divine love.