[The Encouraging Times] This Is What Progress Looks Like

The following post was written by my younger brother, Luke Thering, as a contribution to The Encouraging Times.


In the wake of recent global, national and local events, the world seems to be at a boiling point. Hopefully, though, it’s also a tipping point.

A pandemic has exposed our nation’s ill-equipped and upside-down healthcare system, and ‘leadership’ from the very top seems to be completely absent or worse, present, but fighting against basic human rights of life and liberty. Recent killings of Black men at the hands of the police are reminding us that we still have a long way to go in the fight for equality and peace.

It can all seem so hopeless, so bleak, so sad. And it is. But it’s not for nothing: What has given me hope–what has been encouraging, is seeing how the outrage, grief, and pain has been transformed into action, nationwide and indeed throughout the globe: Citizens banding together, organizing, marching in the streets, donating, spreading information, and having difficult discussions.

On a more personal level, I’ve some days been overwhelmed by it all. It’s so easy to see the stark magnitude of the world’s problems, and to feel the weight of it, and the weight keeps you paralyzed. Some days that weight has kept me from getting out of bed, or has stifled my voice, or has led me into a state of comfortable apathy. But other days, it’s different… Read more

[The Encouraging Times] Caffè Sospeso

The following is a submission for The Encouraging Times, handwritten and mailed to me from Eva in Spain.

The Encouraging Times - Caffe Sospeso

It reads:

“I remember that some years ago, in Naples (Italy), the idea of the “caffè sospeso” (pending coffee) resumed. It consists of a customer paying the price of two coffees, but receiving and consuming only one. Later, when a poor person asks whether there is any pending coffee, he or she is served one for free. The idea spread around the world. In some places, there is a board where they announce the number of pending coffees they have (maybe also to encourage more people to participate, both paying or asking).

I have a friend who does the same at the motorway tolls: he pays his fee and the fee of the car right behind. It is not a great amount of money… but it always put a smile in the face of that unknown person.”

 


Thank you so much for sharing this story, Eva — and for being the first participant of The Encouraging Times!

I warmly invite you to share a story/moment/sighting from your life that made you feel encouraged/hopeful. I will share it here on the blog, such that its light can spread exponentially.

Freedom of Menus

Last month, a friend from my January retreat/ongoing mastermind shared with us that she’d made herself a menu of options for her mornings. Instead of sticking to a “morning routine,” now when she woke up she could look at the menu and pick whatever felt best for herself that particular morning.

A menu! Read more