During the bombing raids of WWII, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care. But many of these children who had lost so much could not sleep at night. They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Nothing seemed to reasure them. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, these children could finally sleep in peace. All through the night the bread reminded them, ̉Today I ate and I will eat again tomorrow.Ó

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In the middle of a swamp just outside the village of Ravensbruck the Nazis established a concentration camp exclusively for women. By the end of WWII, 50,000 women had died there. When the camp was liberated a piece of wrapping paper was found near the body of a dead child. Scrawled on the piece of paper was this message:

"O God, remember not only the men and women of good will, but, also, those of ill will. But do not remember only the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we brought thanks to this suffering: Our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility: the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgement, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. "

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Song of the Spirit

There is a tribe in East Africa in which . . . the birth date of a child is not counted from the day of its physical birth nor even the da of its conception, as in other village cultures. For this tribe the birth date comes the first time the child is a thought in its mother's mind. Aware of her intention to conceive a child with a particular father, the mother then goes off to sit alone under a tree. There she sits and listens until she can hear the song of the child that she hopes to conceive. Once she has heard it, she returns to her village and teaches it to the father so that they can sing it together as they make love, inviting the child to join them. After the child is conceived, she sings it to the baby in her womb. Then she teaches it to the old women and midwives of her village, so that throughout the labor and at the miraculous moment of birth itself, the child is greeted with its song. After the birth, all the villagers learn the song of their new member and sing it to the child when it falls or hurts itself. It is sung in times of triumph, or in rituals and initiations. This song becomes a part of the marriage ceremony when the child is grown, and at the end of life, his or her loved ones will gather around the deathbed and sing this song for the last time.

Jane's character endures a life of poverty. She cares for her children the best she can with very little in her days but isolation and tragedy.

In this bleak place, so different from the land of plenty she's left behind, she scrubs her plain rooms clean. She scraps for good. She captures time in the midst of a neverending line of chores, to carve small animals—and a Jesus—from discarded wood and a tree stump. Day after day, she whittles.

In the movie, others do her wrong, but her responses are her own—fierce when called for—but usually kind.

Meetings at the Edge
Who Dies?
Healing Into Life and Death

Cassettes:
In the Heart Lies the Deathless (Stephen Levine)
Embracing the Beloved (Stephen and Ondrea Levine)