<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Yes, thank you for sharing.It’s very poignant.<div class="">With love,</div><div class="">Lee<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 31, 2022, at 8:23 AM, Riantee Rand via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Thank you for sharing Eric and Lydia.<div class="">Great poem, a message I want to hear over and over. . .</div><div class="">. . . when everything hurts</div><div class="">may everything change.</div><div class="">xoxo</div><div class="">R</div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 30, 2022, at 18:39, Eric Stromberger via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div>Amanda, for those that did not catch the Inauguration speech, is the Poet Laureate that gave that speech.<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class=""><div class="">*<font class="">Hymn For the Hurting *by Amanda Gorman <br class=""><br class=""></font><blockquote type="cite" class=""><font class="">Everything hurts,<br class="">Our hearts shadowed and strange,<br class="">Minds made muddied and mute.<br class="">We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.<br class="">And yet none of it is new;<br class="">We knew it as home,<br class="">As horror,<br class="">As heritage.<br class="">Even our children<br class="">Cannot be children,<br class="">Cannot be.<br class=""><br class="">Everything hurts.<br class="">It’s a hard time to be alive,<br class="">And even harder to stay that way.<br class="">We’re burdened to live out these days,<br class="">While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.<br class=""><br class="">This alarm is how we know<br class="">We must be altered —<br class="">That we must differ or die,<br class="">That we must triumph or try.<br class="">Thus while hate cannot be terminated,<br class="">It /can /be transformed<br class="">Into a love that lets us live.<br class=""><br class="">May we not just grieve, but give:<br class="">May we not just ache, but act;<br class="">May our signed right to bear arms<br class="">Never blind our sight from shared harm;<br class="">May we choose our children over chaos.<br class="">May another innocent never be lost.<br class=""><br class="">Maybe everything hurts,<br class="">Our hearts shadowed & strange.<br class="">But only when everything hurts<br class="">May everything change.<br class=""></font></blockquote><font class=""><br class=""><br class=""></font><blockquote type="cite" class=""><font class=""><<a href="https://email.mg1.substack.com/c/eJwlkMtuxCAMRb9m2E1EICHJgkU3_Y2Ih5Oh5RGB0yj9-kJHQuYKbF_7GIWwp3zLIxUkLax4HyAjXMUDImRyFsirs7JflpFPIydW0omZSRNX1i0DBOW8JMepvTMKXYotmwsm-pm85LAMo9AzaM6s7jkVm5gBBJsZ3-gG-m2qTusgGpDwA_lOEYhJIUDE1ot4-UI8yoN_PNhnPdd1dfFGF6B0Na--MMpYvejY9FRDOlyso1SlgopWPeuWVTzPH-UtPI8EoXth8MTJVktHTlk_9FR0vKPbImCzSi2CTQDwGGjY-66cuqAy382SZGm_vPttXyZ2Ke8NwNqGPqPDe4WotAcrMZ9A8I33n9S6Q4RcsdtVoezFyJdBzBOlgr1R1IVHwTgfhoVUS5tqVZTmlY4rJWtUzvdVy7OtzW5lGvDyBy6Bmjw" class="">https://email.mg1.substack.com/c/eJwlkMtuxCAMRb9m2E1EICHJgkU3_Y2Ih5Oh5RGB0yj9-kJHQuYKbF_7GIWwp3zLIxUkLax4HyAjXMUDImRyFsirs7JflpFPIydW0omZSRNX1i0DBOW8JMepvTMKXYotmwsm-pm85LAMo9AzaM6s7jkVm5gBBJsZ3-gG-m2qTusgGpDwA_lOEYhJIUDE1ot4-UI8yoN_PNhnPdd1dfFGF6B0Na--MMpYvejY9FRDOlyso1SlgopWPeuWVTzPH-UtPI8EoXth8MTJVktHTlk_9FR0vKPbImCzSi2CTQDwGGjY-66cuqAy382SZGm_vPttXyZ2Ke8NwNqGPqPDe4WotAcrMZ9A8I33n9S6Q4RcsdtVoezFyJdBzBOlgr1R1IVHwTgfhoVUS5tqVZTmlY4rJWtUzvdVy7OtzW5lGvDyBy6Bmjw</a>><br class=""></font></blockquote><font class=""><br class=""></font></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div>_______________________________________________<br class="">Thespiritexpress mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a><br class=""><a href="http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress" class="">http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress</a><br class=""></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div>_______________________________________________<br class="">Thespiritexpress mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a><br class="">http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress<br class=""></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>