Last week, we hosted a special guest, The Very Rev. Tracey Lind, who came to speak about the spiritual insights and lessons she has gained from a life complicated by dementia. Tracey is a newly retired episcopal priest who for the last 17 years served as Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland. On Nov. 8, 2016, Tracey was diagnosed with early stage Frontotemporal Dementia. In what some might consider a cruel twist of fate, the type of FTD Lind has, Primary Progressive Aphasia, affects the neurons in the part of the brain that involves communication and language. The woman who in 2004 wrote and published the book “Interrupted by God,” who wrote and delivered weekly sermons for nearly three decades, who could converse and joke as easily with a homeless woman as with a corporate CEO, was going to be robbed, gradually, of her ability to write, read, speak and understand what others are saying. As she spoke it was clear that the deep and abiding faith that has inspired this gifted preacher and teacher throughout her life continues to sustain her as she meets the challenges of the years ahead supported by her wife of 18 years. Tracey's message was filled with honesty, courage, faith, and hope.
At lunch Tracey shared with us a blog she is writing using the story of Pandora's box and how she had found new meaning in it. Of course, Pandora is well recognized as the Greek mythical character, the first woman, created by Zeus. Upon her creation, the gods gave her many gifts – beauty, charm, wit, artistry, and cunning; the last gift was curiosity. Included with the gifts was a box, which she was told to emphatically, “Never open the box.” She even hid the box deep in the ground but the pull of curiosity was too strong. Finally, she could hold back no longer, she lifted the lid, and out flew all the evils of the world, such as toil, illness and despair. That's how most of us remember the end of the story, but wait, at the bottom of the box, the last creature that she let loose was HOPE. Pandora's last words were: “HOPE is what makes us strong. It is why we are here. It is what we fight with when all else is lost.” The Very Rev. Tracey has preached about hope for years and now she is living it out in a new way. The diagnosis hasn't stopped her from fully immersing in what life has to offer — and what she has to give.
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