Memorial Day, May 30, 2011
The words Barack Obama spoke upon awarding Gerda Weissmann (Holocaust Survivor) the Presidential Medal of Freedom brought out an awareness in me that I’d like to share with you this week, “as an author, a historian and a crusader for tolerance, she has taught the world that it is often in our most hopeless moments that we discover the extent of our strength and the depth of our love.”
What is it that enabled Gerda Weissmann to rise above all that she experienced and not become completely victimized by it? Although I’ve never met her, I suspect that it was her ability not to see herself as a victim of her experiences. Instead she allowed them to help her discover her essence, the greater truth of her being. In this way she was able to bring forth her love and intelligence and use it to carry out her “mission of tolerance”. Recently, Weissmann said, “ I love this country with a love that only one who has been homeless and hungry for as long as I had been, can have.”
Reading about her life has made me more aware than ever, that my own hopeless moments have been gifts in disguise. The fear and darkness I feel during these periods actually open me to the “light” of my being not the labels I have chosen to accept from others or put upon myself. Thank you, Gerda Weissmann.
