this song from the musical "rent" is stuck in my head and in my heart. it was made into a movie a year or two ago, and it's full of hard things to watch, but perhaps worthwhile if you can get through it. this song, "will i?" is sung by a group of people who are in a support group for those with and affected by AIDS in the movie, and, well, here it is.
will i lose my dignity?
will someone care?
will i wake tomorrow from this nightmare?
it's just repeated over and over, in a round, and it's beautiful and haunting and makes me want to cry. because i know that so many of those at joseph's house feel this way, and i want to just answer that suffering and pain and say no, you will not lose your dignity. yes, i will care. and i don't know if you'll wake tomorrow or not. but nightmare or not, i want to be there with you.
i went to a conference this weekend on caring for those who are dying, and the speaker gave these definitions for love and compassion:
love is to trust in the inherent loveliness of another person and to speak that loveliness to them.
compassion is snuggling up close next to pain and refusing to leave, waiting for something true to be revealed.
may it be so in my life.
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