You Are Not Alone.

This article is part of Finding the Words, a newsletter that delivers practical insights on the day’s issues.

I wish I hadn’t read that.
 

Have you found yourself recently wishing you hadn’t read or heard something? Maybe you’ve even wondered when listening to the news, “Is this real, or a really bad dream?”

Maybe you’ve found yourself carrying a different weight, thinking, “How is this happening to us, as you digest the impact certain information is now suddenly and profoundly going to have on your present and future work.

Just 65 days after the presidential inauguration, many of us are tiring of the constant “now what” as news breaks and the “what now” for the people who will suffer most because of it.

• Truth be told, your work matters—and it is being tested.

• Truth be told, we learn how strong we are when under pressure.

• And truth be told, we can make it through the uncertainty even when all feels lost.

So, what to do? What to say? And how in the world can we lead through this?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about turning to a certain person for wisdom in uncertain times. Someone who wrote a book—several actually—on keeping faith through the worst of humanity. His name is Mitch Albom, and I sat down with him a few weeks ago to learn more about his latest book, The Little Liar, a story that begins in a small town in Greece that was once home to a large Jewish population. The story takes place before, during, and after the Holocaust.

When we sat down earlier this month, we talked about keeping faith at the height of uncertainty. We talked about his kids in Haiti and how their future has never been more in danger. We discussed how he has learned to find strength and humility through these times.

Here’s what he said when I asked him about keeping faith in our greatest moments of uncertainty.

”The opposite of faith comes into play when you lose humility…when you think you are alone, you can make it better, and you can fix everything.  It takes humility to look at the sky and remember…that we didn’t create this, and we don’t control it.”

But we can get through it.

So, we will keep reading the news—even the hard bits. We will keep searching for and demanding the truth. We will keep advocating for those who need it most, even if the means to get there must change.

And we will remember that we are not alone in that fight.

If you are dealing with the recent loss of funds or navigating changes that have negatively affected your mission, please send me an email. Mission Partners has set aside allocated pro bono resources to support leaders and their teams through these times, and we may be able to support you, too.

Bottom Line: There’s so much we wish we could avoid, control, and change. But we are here now. So, let’s see what we can do about it together.

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This post is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.