Glimmers
"Where triggers are cues of danger, glimmers are cues of safety."
Can you imagine how Mary Magdalene felt when she “saw the Lord?” How her nervous system was in a state of shock, sadness, mourning? The emotional exhaustion she must have been feeling - yet she still found the strength to visit the grave?
And then she saw - first a glimmer and then The Lord. She then became the first person on earth to preach Christ’s resurrection.
Recently, I’ve been grateful to Brian at Broken to Beloved, who has been highlighting glimmers on their Instagram page.
I’m not a therapist, but my understanding of glimmers are little moments that we experience which help regulate our nervous system. They create a sense of calm, safety, and peace.
To me they seem the opposite of triggers which are moments that cause our nervous systems to have a fight or flight response.
For people who have experienced pain in faith communities, Easter weekend can be full of triggers. Little things can cause our nervous systems can go haywire. We can exist in a heightened state of sensing danger.
Yet, like Mary Magdalene we somehow must still go on and live this weekend with our nervous systems exhausted.
So inspired by Brian, I thought I would share a few glimmers that I experienced this weekend despite my exhausted nervous system.
For many (especially Brian), glimmers can be found in nature - what I discovered this weekend, when my glimmers were found in community. I experienced people sharing joy, love, patience, laughter, and care while experiencing some of the best parts of my neighborhood.
In observing these glimmering friends - I saw the Lord.
Mindelynn Young Godbout
1. Paul Revere Drone Show
Hundreds of fellow Bostonians came together to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride. On Friday, we walked down to the harbor and saw quite a drone reenactment of the ride. The nerdiness was epic. Our neighbors were great.
2. Celtics Win Game 1
Thousands of fellow Bostonians came together to cheer on our beloved Celtics as they begin the journey to defend their trophy. The pride in our team is epic, and I’m rarely a “be a Christian like this athlete” person, but I gotta share two articles.
National Catholic Register: Celtics Center Finds Key to Happiness in Faith and Friendship With the Saints
Boston Globe: On and off the court, the Celtics’ indispensable Jrue Holiday is guided by his faith
3. Marathon Runners
I will always believe that Marathon Runners are among the greatest humans on earth. Their sacrifice is epic and the thousands of runners who raise money for charities is inspiring. It is an honor for them to descend on our city once a year.
Boston.com: These 10 athletes will inspire you this Marathon Monday
4. Stories from Suffragette City
I’m currently listening to this anthology. Although not about Boston, this is a collection of stories sharing aspects of the suffrage movement which aimed to give women the right to vote through the passage of the 19th Amendment.
A common thread in the stories are women of faith (many ministers) sacrificed to ensure victims of injustice have a voice to make their lives better. They were a community that was able to overcome differences for the cause of justice. Their courage was epic.
5. Additional Resources
Additional resources are available on our Broken Road website, a collection of resources that we have found helpful. Feel free to take time to browse, just as you would a library or bookstore. We hope to develop this into a more user-friendly and searchable system in the future.
For integrity purposes, we won’t include a resource unless we have personally read, watched, engaged, or have relationships with the resources we list.
And we want to hear from you. What resources have you found helpful in processing and healing from pain in faith communities? You can reach us at brokenroad@readfarandwide.com.