Amanda Gorman is the young writer and activist who delivered her acclaimed poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inaugural.
Last week [May 28, 2022], The New York Times published her latest work on its editorial page. “Hymn for the Hurting” is the 24-year-old poet’s reflections on living in these times of violence, war and pandemic.
“Everything hurts,” Amanda Gorman writes. “Our hearts shadowed and strange, / Minds made muddled and mute. / We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. / And yet none of it is new.”
The challenge, she notes, is that “while hate cannot be terminated, It can be transformed / Into a love that lets us live.
“May we not just grieve, but give: / May we not just ache, but act; / May our signed right to bear arms / Never blind our sight from shared harm; / May we choose our children over chaos, / May another innocent never be lost.”
Amanda Gorman concludes her “Hymn for the Hurting”:
“Maybe everything hurts, / Our hearts shadowed and strange. / But only when everything hurts / May everything change.”
The famous Philosopher Plato likened the soul to a charioteer whose task it was to drive two horses. The one horse was gentle and biddable and obedient to the reins and to the word of command, it reflected reason, the good in life
The other horse was wild and untamed and rebellious, it represented passion, and too often the bad in life.
Plato said that life is an ongoing conflict between the two.
These days we are a hurting nation. We struggle to make sense of the anger and violence we see now too often around us.
Let us work to embrace Jesus’ challenge in today’s Gospel, to let our hurts lead us to change, transforming our grief into hope, our fears into healing, our anger into justice.
Let us adopt Christ’s attitude of humility and peace so that we may become a source of reconciliation and peace.