Thursday August 13, 2020
Matt Loper
Nourish
I adore uncovering the story of a word's evolution. I relish the opportunity to "slow down" with a word and unfold its many nuances in order to better understand the layers of meaning we attach to our speech. And as a lifelong francophile, I especially enjoy seeing the early French roots of words when there are such roots. Given this week's reflection word, I immediately went and discovered this bit of linguistic history for "nourish"- from Old French norriss-, stem of norrir, "raise, bring up, nurture, foster; maintain, provide for".
Moving beyond the basics of feeding and giving nutrients, the linguistic roots here point us toward a much grander, and dare I say, more important idea: that to nourish is to raise, to provide for, to maintain, and to foster. To me, this reads that to nourish others I should seek to provide for and bring up the best inside them and me. Though, perhaps I am biased! I have the great joy and gift that my career has been a career of working to nurture young people discovering the very best within themselves. Including that I have had the joy of serving as Director of Education for the incredible community of youth at St. John's. To say that I was deeply nourished by that experience would be a profound understatement.
And beyond the professional privilege of working for young people, personally, I am also in a delightful phase of life where the majority of my friends are beginning their journeys into parenthood, and I'm becoming an uncle to some of the most marvelous and miraculous little beings! At the same time, I've had the sincere pleasure of living with my parents for most of this summer and learning to navigate our relationship as parents/adult child in a way that has truly felt like a gift. Given all of these life circumstances, needless to say, there have been ample opportunities to reflect on nourishment as I watch my peers, quite literally, provide and sustain life for their children and while I enjoy the still vital nourishment from my own parents.
Seeing this aspect of humanity from multiple angles makes it so clear for me that our hunger for nourishment goes far beyond the need to sate our bellies. The teeny yet enormous hugs of my toddler friends, the thoughtfulness of a light left on when I return home late, or the kind, patient pace of my father teaching me a new skill have nourished me in ways that food never could! As I age, it becomes more and more apparent every day that the fuel I need most in order to thrive is the nourishing compassion, care, and love of those around me. If I'm genuinely paying attention, I see how my self-sabotaging behaviors, my negative self-talk, or my self-reinforcing patterns of harm all are forms of hunger crying out about a deeper need that must be provided for. These hunger pangs are quieted when the loved ones in my life take the time to nourish me, to raise up the best within me, with their love and friendship.
Isn't it a miracle then...an actual miracle...that the very quickest and truest way to nourish myself is to use of my time, gifts, and resources to nourish others!? Those blessed moments when I do, when I can get out of my own head, move past my own insecurities, and dissolve the self-induced turbulence that keeps me focused on myself instead of others are the moments that I have learned to crave most. In those moments of seeking to give kindness, compassion, love, thoughtfulness, and yes, even food, are the moments I tend to really know myself. Those are the moments that foster the best within me. And as someone who is lucky enough to be seeking to grow more fully into God's Light and more truly into alignment with my highest and best self, I have yet to find a better way to explore these sacred aspects of self than by trying to fully nourish those in my life. I hope that in some way these words have nourished you!
