Whether we want it or not, sooner or later, near or far, our family as our soul’s school mobilizes us from the pleasant to the unpleasant, from the ideal to the pathetic, from joy to pain, from pride to shame.

The uncomfortable, unwanted family experience is not optional. What we can choose is to take advantage of those movements to try to straighten up; how difficult. What we can choose is to accompany each other in those movements. What a blessing.