Dear Mr. McConnell, I want to ask you to please allow confirmation hearings for the supreme court justice nominee, Merrick B. Garland. I read about him and am impressed that he would make a very good supreme court justice for our country. I invite you to reconsider your position, especially after reading Henri Nouwen’s devotional yesterday, “Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field. But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind, remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has calmed down.

Flexibility is a great virtue. When we cling to our own positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others, we may easily be broken. Being like wild reeds does not mean being wishy-washy. It means moving a little with the winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the ground. A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits and make us bitter people. Let’s be flexible while being deeply rooted.”*

A fellow citizen, Joy Eastridge

*Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco.

In this article, a hospice nurse listens to a family member’s worst hospice nightmare: making the decision to go into hospice too soon. She helps to clarify and comfort.

Source: Hospice: A Dream or a Nightmare