Finding Beauty in Chaos
July Newsletter: Not everything happens for a reason. Reflections, journal prompts, meditations, podcasts and book recommendations to support you in your journey.
Just the other day, sitting on the beach nearby some friends, I heard it again…
Everything happens for a reason.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard this phrase. From the women I used to meet with in the jail, to DV shelters, to streets, to Christian small groups, this phase has permeated our society as if it comes from a well known scripture. Yet is not scripture.
I don’t believe everything happens for a reason. There is stuff that is just terrible and grievous and heartbreaking.
Yet I do believe and witness how beauty arises from the ashes, how goodness comes from pain, how somehow in suffering there can be joy.
These cactus blooms remind me, to notice the beauty amidst the thorns.
REFLECTION OR JOURNAL PROMPTS
Pause for a moment and see if you can locate how you feel about that phrase?
How has it taken up space inside of you?
What has reinforced it for you? And what counters it?
What truth actually resonates for you?
a blessing for when things don’t make any sense, by Kate Bowler
Here’s an excerpt from Kate Bowler’s book The Lives We Actually Have, also found on her website…
“…Blessed are we who need to be reminded
that there are some things we can fix
…and some things we can’t.
Right in the midst of the pain and fear and uncertainty,
may we hunt for beauty and meaning and truth… together.
Not to erase the pain or solve the pain,
(though surely that would be nice),
but to remind us that beauty and sorrow coexist.
And that doesn’t mean we’re broken or have been forgotten.
In our hope. In our disappointment. In our joy. In our pain.
God is here and we are never—were never and will be never—alone.
This blessing was inspired by Kate’s conversation with Dr. Stanley Hauerwas on the Everything Happens Podcast. Listen to it here.
In the midst of hardship, wherever you find yourself, may there be beauty to bear witness to, joy to hold on to, and deep grace to be immersed in.
strength to you amidst it all,
~ Bethany Dearborn Hiser
P.S. A new podcast interview landed in June, check it out below as well as other resources!
Recommended Resources
OTHER PODCASTS
New Podcast Interview with me: Socially Acceptable Addictions
“There can be an unhealthy attachment or co-dependency on work that shapes our identity and sense of acceptance. Work often becomes the socially acceptable addiction, particularly for those in full-time ministry and cross-cultural work. A significant part of our identity is formed by what we do, which can lead to burnout.
Different from simply being empathetically impacted by work co-dependency is the need to solve others’ problems to feel okay yourself. This overextension of self is often rewarded and may appear positive on the outside but can lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. Are we motivated by a need to be needed because we aren’t okay unless everyone else is? The root of addiction lies in deriving something from a behavior or substance. There is a deep need that must be met through our relationships with our creator, not through our identity in our work.”
“We have to know we have worth and value and live out of that place” Bethany Hiser
Recommended for Pastors Podcast
Interview with Bob Reidy: Burnout Breakthrough and the Road to a Healthier Ministry
GUIDED MEDITATIONS
I have some new guided meditations available on Insight Timer to engage your imagination and prayerful reflection, you can check them out here: https://insighttimer.com/bethanydhiser/guided-meditations
BOOKS
Psalms for Praying, by Nan Merrill
Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, By Kate Bowler
Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth, by Gerald May
VIDEO: To see the cactus blooms and hear the buzzing bees….
