Having been a hospice chaplain, I have a number of friends in the field. One of them was telling me about a patient she’s been working with who recently had a spiritual awakening. Acknowledging the patient’s new hope but continued physical decline, she celebrated with him while also gently reminding that sometimes things seem to get worse before they improve. And he, she told me, responded with a look of joy,
“I know. It’ll get worse before it gets beautiful.”
And that is my new favorite phrase. And thought. There’s a lot of “worse” out there these days. Let’s hang on together until it gets beautiful.