Private Life & Friendship as Protection
Welcome to Sanctuary of Resistance
Sanctuary of Resistance: A Guidepost
In a world that so often asks us to be available, always “curating’ how we are seen, always participating in the scroll of other people’s lives, this sanctuary holds sacred the right to think in private, to feel in silence, and to nurture relationships that do not demand agreement….and in a time when sweeping decisions are made without dialogue, when the tone of our national leadership has become reactionary rather than reflective, I am reminded why small, safe sanctuaries like this must exist.
We are witnessing, across the political spectrum, a growing tendency to implement life changing policies without pause for inclusive dialogue, moral reflection, or sustainable wisdom. There is a rush to action without careful consideration. Power without relationship to its citizens. Force without care. Lawlessness being reigned by the careful distortion of law itself.
The Sanctuary of Resistance stands as a quiet encouragement to do the opposite.
It reminds us that we must not govern ourselves, our homes, or our communities, without introspection. That no sustainable leadership, whether internal or collective, can flourish without the grounding of relationship. Without conversation. Without sitting at the table with diverse voices, many histories, and many truths.
Here, friendship, family, neighborhood, and community are not measured by conformity that asks us to fit in, but by an inner integrity and discernment that invites us to listen in.
To listen in order to understand.
To speak with respect.
To stand in quiet solidarity…even in disagreement.
There is also a dignity in privacy.
We are not required to explain our personal beliefs, choices, relationships, or histories in order to belong. What is sacred within us can stay ours, and we extend the same grace to others.
The private self of solitude is not a retreat from responsibility.
It is where our most responsible actions are born.
It is in this spirit that I offer the following reflection…not as “doctrine” or declaration, but as a quiet inquiry. A living question.
This week’s reflection is an offering from that private, thoughtful place.
Not to explain, but to share.
Not to teach, but to witness.
Not to demand agreement, but to speak in the language of belonging, where “meaning” is not imposed, but discovered.
Does my life have meaning?
This question has circled me in moments of stillness, of grief, of quiet awe. Not as a cry for reassurance, but as a sacred doorway. A gentle unfolding that required of me time…and thoughtful space, an unfolding that could only be felt.
What came up for me was not an answer, but a slow and sacred “blooming” through the hidden threads of relationship. Through the threads that connect me to self, to family, to spirit, to ancestry, and to community, I must then ask with sincerity…
Does my family member’s life have meaning?
Does my neighbor’s life have meaning?
Does the stranger’s life have meaning?
Where meaning is discovered through presences.
Where we bloom without “audience, without applause”.
“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”
~ Maya Angelou
“The most dangerous decisions are those made without conversation. The most enduring ones are born of relationship.” ~Leora
I, too, am blooming quietly
Inquiry by inquiry, Word by word. Relationship by relationship
~ Leora
Sanctuary of Resistance: A Guidepost
The Layers of Meaning Through Relationship: A Quiet Bloom
Sanctuary of Resistance – A Gentle Refusal to Look Away
Sanctuary of Resistance: What You Can Do
Week One: Thinking for Yourself in a Noisy World: A reflection on the quiet power of understanding
Thru soulful eyes 