Yadda and Braids and Light

Betsy and I sent out an email asking for help with our graduation speech. We asked people to describe us as individuals, and us as us. We have garnered some responses, mostly not terribly helpful ones. Like Betsy's roommate, who used the same words to describe both of us (but in ways that are different from one another), and then said the two of us together were really smart and pretty. We've been called the odd couple and the square peg that defies all odds and fits into a round hole. We've been told to orient our venn diagram vertically.

Our teammate said, "I know you're pretty religious. And Betsy - well I bet she says things that I offend you". I said, "I say things that offend her".

He laughed, like maybe I was joking.

I wasn't.

It's true.

I think a better way to describe it, though, is that we say things that would be offensive if we didn't respect and value one another.

It's yadda.

Yadda yadda yadda

That Hebrew word that means infinitely more than its English homonym.

To know, to be known, to be deeply respected.

When you yadda and are yadda-ed, the script writes itself. The differences don't cease to exist, but they cease to be a game-ender.

Ann Voskamp wrote this on her blog today,

"We are sisters and we may be cut off and broken and we may be beaten and we may be voiceless and we may be forgotten, but sisters find hands that speak louder than words and sisters find ways to say what isn’t said and grace is the cosmic language and Christ is the soul translator" 

Sisters find ways to say what isn't said. 

That resonated with me in a profound way that I, appropriately enough, do not have the words for. 

She adds, 

"It’s always from the frayed and broken edges of ourselves that we can tie heart strings, that we braid our lives into light." 

From the edges of ourselves, we tie heart strings. 

We find ways to say what isn't said, and tie heart strings between us. We do not have to explain ourselves to anyone because the braid is our business. The braid is our expression of yadda. Our yadda creates light and maybe we don't even understand it so how can we expect you too? But I don't know how any light really works anyway except that it's there and I use it to see.

I use our yadda braid to see.