Incomplete Graces

"You have dogs within you, you must become their master. If you find the animal that is within you, you can understand it. It is not a matter of scolding the animal, it is part of you. You must get to know its nature: it barks, it attacks; but if you understand it, and love it, it will be pleased to serve you, it will not have to be on the defensive, because it will feel loved, understood and it will love you." 

"You survive this and in some terrible way, which I suppose no one can ever describe, you are compelled, you are corralled, you are bullwhipped into dealing with whatever it is that hurt you. And what is crucial here is that if it hurt you, that is not what’s important. Everybody’s hurt. What is important, what corrals you, what bullwhips you, what drives you, torments you, is that you must find some way of using this to connect you with everyone else alive. This is all you have to do it with. You must understand that your pain is trivial except insofar as you can use it to connect with other people’s pain; and insofar as you can do that with your pain, you can be released from it, and then hopefully it works the other way around too; insofar as I can tell you what it is to suffer, perhaps I can help you to suffer less."