Radical Joy Revealed
September 21, 2016
g

Radical Joy Revealed is a weekly message of inspiration about finding and making beauty in wounded places. We hope you'll enjoy these doorways into places that are both familiar and surprising, and we welcome your suggestions, stories, and photos. Click here to subscribe. 

Shirley Chisholm
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. Photo by James Palmer, AP

When we talk about Radical Joy for Hard Times's mission of "finding and making beauty in wounded places," we usually mean places on the Earth.
 
Yet people often tell us that, as they begin to think anew about the value of a place that has been damaged and then take steps to restore beauty and meaning to that place, they discover that their attitudes about other people and other circumstances also shift in surprising ways.
 
Recently we came upon a story that exemplifies how it's possible to expand generosity in directions where it's least expected.
 
In 1972 Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, announced that she would run for president of the United States. In May of that year, she startled many people when she made a visit to the hospital bed of Alabama Governor George Wallace, a known segregationist, after he was shot by a would-be assassin. When questioned about her unusual act of kindness, Chisholm responded that she believed that, in a democracy, it is important to respect differing opinions. To withhold compassion from another person, Chisholm said, would be to encourage "the same sickness in public life that leads to assassinations." (From the October 2016 issue of Atlantic Monthly, adapted from The Highest Glass Ceiling: Women's Quest for the American Presidency by Ellen Fitzpatrick.)

May we extend our compassion and our willingness to make beauty to as many places, people, and situations as we can. 
To discover other stories of inspiring people, stories, photos, and ideas, subscribe to
Radical Joy for Hard Times is a global community of people dedicated to finding and making beauty in wounded places. Reconnecting with these places, sharing our stories of loss, and making acts of beauty there, we transform the land, reconnect people and the places that nourish them, and empower ourselves to make a difference in the way we live on Earth. 
Donate to help Radical Joy


Each week Radical Joy Revealed comes to you free of charge with inspiring stories and suggestions for living with endangered places in creative, life-affirming ways. It takes thought, imagination, and a sense of timing to uncover and write the stories, choose just the right images to accompany them, and prepare them for distribution, and we could use your financial help. Please show your support of Radical Joy Revealed by making a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization.

Know someone else that would be interested in our organization?
Not yet signed up to receive our  emails?

Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.