Thursday, December 24, 2009

Honoring Meredith: Her Radiant Beauty as Inspiration

Posted by wayra


Our poster Wayra worked on this post for weeks to try to tread a very fine line. Wayra was drawn to TJMK in part because for Meredith we do what we can to make a special place here. Wayra wanted this post to go up just before the verdict came down, so it was only at the top for a couple of hours. With the years-end season of family closeness upon us, we think it deserve to be back at the top. We wish Meredith’s family and friends what comfort they may find in the December outcomes, and the growing acceptance that something right really did happen here. Our musician poster Earthling will be posting tomorrow.

 

People from all over the world have come together on the True Justice for Meredith Kercher website, creating a community to document the process of trying the accused murderers, and serving as vigilant witnesses for truth and justice. 

Posters who have interpreted, with impeccable attention to detail, the facts surrounding the case, and those of us who have joined the discussion, express a deep, abiding desire that justice be done to honor the memory of a young woman whose life was taken in a mercilessly cruel and entirely senseless way, and to support her grieving family. 

Though achieving justice through a court of law is an essential response to what has been done, many people who contribute their views to TJMK express another, deeper search for meaning in her tragic death.

An exceptional young woman, who was intelligent, friendly, and loving, beginning the adventure of a lifetime, Meredith emerged into the independence of young adulthood with a remarkable ability to make good on all the advantages that life had given her: a loving family, physical beauty and vitality, intelligence, grace and wit, and a desire to excel. She became the center of a universe of family and friends, lighting up the world around her with her laughter, as well as her devotion to the things about which she cared deeply.

Along with others, I have felt drawn to learn more about this extraordinary young woman who did everything she could, it seemed, to be happy, to achieve, and to create goodwill among everyone she encountered. By all accounts, she was conscientious and generous, possessing a grace and sense of responsibility unusual for her age, while retaining youthful joy and spontaneity.

Over time, I became aware of another, deepening aspect of her story working through me. I thought about how beautifully Meredith moved through the world. Her dedication to her studies and focus on future goals; her commitment to family and the value she placed on all relationships, were qualities that became a touchstone for me; qualities that I aspired to strengthen in myself. I felt drawn to her radiance as a guiding force for good in my own life. I am almost the age of Meredith’s mother and certainly old enough to be her mother ““ and yet I felt how deeply I admired her, how much I had to learn from her.

Most of us will never enjoy, in such abundance or with such seeming ease, the beauty, joy, and success that Meredith possessed and achieved in her short life. In mourning Meredith, we also mourn the loss of her beauty and radiance in the world. But what Meredith knew, who Meredith was, can become a universal lesson. What Meredith, the woman and her life, can teach us ““ has certainly taught me ““ is the value of moving in the world from a place of light, love and joy. Meredith has set an example, a standard that challenges and inspires us to live in the world differently. Every time that I think of her, I am reminded that it is possible to live in the world from a place of light, love and joy. 

Her death is a profound tragedy of personal loss to her family and friends. A strong and passionate woman, willing to stand out and speak out, Mez was no placid saint-like figure. She was a living, breathing young woman, with an exquisitely engaging sensuality all her own. My next statements are not intended to minimize or disregard that loss in any way. Her family and friends have suffered and continue to suffer her absence in their lives everyday, and the loss of their visions and dreams for the future. The fabric, the wholeness and integrity of their lives have been shattered by the brutality of her murder, as her mother so poignantly described at the trial, and our gift to them can be to hold them in light, in our thoughts and prayers.

But as tragic as it is, the loss of her life has not been in vain. Millions of people around the world now know Meredith. For those of us who open ourselves to receiving the gift of her radiant beauty, she can serve as a source of inspiration, a light toward which we can strive to be better and to make the world a better place. For Meredith, as for other people of greatness, her leaving has also been a gift to people around the world who will see and learn from her example.

Lovely features look out at us through the many photos we have of Meredith. But it is the luminous qualities of her intelligence, her joy as the highest expression of gratitude for life, that make her image radiate the beauty to which we are drawn again and again.

I think the best we can do to honor Meredith is to live the way she lived: with an open, loving heart; sharing joy and laughter; devoting our time on earth to the people we care about and to the projects that give our lives meaning. To be our best selves and encourage others be their best selves.

The Kerchers recently stated that they look forward to the conclusion of the trial so that they can focus on remembering Meredith as the woman she was. I look forward to just punishment being leveled so that I can relinquish the anger I harbor against the accused killers and focus on becoming the good I see shining through Meredith.

In the spiritual traditions I have followed for the past decade, a cross-cultural blend of indigenous north and south American traditions, we practice a form of collective meditation at regular, weekly intervals. It creates a very strong container of love and light. Something that has been suggested before on TJMK and that I’d like to bring up again, is to hold Meredith and her family in our thoughts and prayers when the jury is in deliberation, taking 15 to 30 minutes during that 24 hour period to light a candle or simply sit in ceremony. The energy will be felt by and for all of us at that time.

Posted by wayra on 12/24/09 at 06:30 PM in

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Comments

My husband’s younger sister died when she was eighteen.
She was on a beach, and someone was in trouble in the water.
She’d taken life-saving, and believed she could help.
Instead she died.
That happened almost forty years ago.
Her parents, my in-laws, never recovered.
Her sibling’s lives were diminished forever by the loss.
Every holiday there is an empty place where Janice, and the family she should have lived to create, should be, extending our lives.
My heart goes out to the Kerchers in this difficult time, and in the years to come.
We all live in world diminished by Meredith’s absence, but their loss is paramount.

Posted by lauowolf on 12/04/09 at 06:27 AM | #

I hope that soon the Kercher family will get the closure they wish and they can move forward and remember Mez outwith the gaze of the media and not as a murder victim, but soley as the daughter they had.

Now as we near a conclusion to this case I also feel sorry for the families of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.  They too have lost children of great promise.

I feel sorrow for Amanda and Raffaele. Over recent days it has become clear they are empty of hope and the result of their actions will have serious consequences. 

There are no winners in this - we are all losers, but none more so than Meredith Kercher.

Posted by morrisoc on 12/04/09 at 03:06 PM | #

Ciao Wayra,

Thank you for this beautiful prologue in memory of Meredith. I feel, like you, that we can do Meredith much honour by cherish the positive values she lived by.

TJMK has done a great job in two ways:

- By insisting upon that we focus on the person Meredith, who was the victim of this crime - Mez as “a living, breathing young woman”, a beautiful and talented young woman who was living the live of a new generation of Europeans, taking advantage of globalization, striving to learn the language and culture of another country, and making friends internationally.

- By striving to present arguments and evidence in the trial in a profound serious, competent manner, contradicting the mocking of Italy and the Italian system of justice done by the US media.

Hereby one can hope that Meredith’s dead has not been in vain, also in the sense that the trial against Amanda and Rafaelle has not been in vain.
At present we do not know if a guilty verdict towards Amanda and Rafaelle will come, but the cruel and tragic death of Meredith has already taught us a remarkable lesson and contributed to diffuse knowledge about the unfair, unethical – sometimes illegal - efforts by which some groups strives to manipulate the outcome of a trial.
And the Kerchers has – like Meredith – demonstrated their faith in a multicultural world, by trusting justice can be found in a legal system which is profoundly different from the British.

Meredith has then already made a huge contribution to point out the direction for future multicultural relationships.

Fiori

Posted by Fiori on 12/04/09 at 03:21 PM | #

A new poster Darcy posted this on the Perugia Murder File forum a few minutes ago.

I would like to thank the members of this board, as others have done, for their sincere thoughts and well thought out opinions during this trial. My job leads me to have a negative opinion of mankind and the cruelty perpetrated on our fellow man. I thank you also for renewing my faith in our global society.

The kindness, support and compassion shown toward Meredith Kercher and her family from so many countries, cultures, religions and political beliefs lifts my pessimistic soul. I pray that the Kercher family will find some peace and comfort, knowing that so many people they will never know have traveled with them on this horrendous journey. I know the emptiness left by Meredith’s death will never be filled but hope that time may ease their pain.

As we wait for the notice from the court, I would like to leave this poem for a young woman who will never grow old and sadly never fulfill her dreams.


To a young lady

Sweet stream, that winds through yonder glade,
Apt emblem of a virtuous maid-
Silent and chaste she steals along,
Far from the world’s gay busy throng:
With gentle yet prevailing force,
Intent upon her destined course;
Graceful and useful all she does,
Blessing and blest where’er she goes,
Pure-bosom’d as that watery glass,
And Heaven reflected in her face.

William Cowper 1731-1800

Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/04/09 at 09:08 PM | #

Thank you for this lovely post about Meredith.  She was obviously a wonderful young woman.

Posted by Mechele on 12/04/09 at 11:27 PM | #

12/24/09

Wayra, thanks! You articulate with beauty and depth what touches me about Meredith. I’m grateful for TJMK, the intellectual light, the balance. I’m learning to appreciate Dostoevsky’s title, “Crime and Punishment.”

“It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” (the Christophers) I will continue to follow this case in 2010. The truth is still hidden. I enjoy the fruit of other minds. You never know what you might be sharing, what is anointed.

Merry Christmas, TJMK!

Posted by Hopeful on 12/24/09 at 10:25 PM | #

Wayra, thank you! You express so beautifully what Meredith has come to mean for so many people! And in so doing, you have honored both Meredith and her family.

I am glad the verdicts are over for the time being. This is a perfect essay to help us end the year on a positive note… remembering the light that was in the world and will never be lost to it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!

Posted by Earthling on 12/24/09 at 11:51 PM | #

Yes indeed, what a lovely idea it is to put this post back to this date. What could be nicer and more oriented towards this beautiful life and her incredibly noble family?

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to everyone!

Posted by Patou on 12/25/09 at 02:47 PM | #

I am just in a loss for words. When I read what Wayra has written as well as the other comments on what she wrote, and looking at the beautiful and beaming smile in each of Meredith’s photos, one can feel the true beauty of Meredith both inside and out, and the heart breaking tragedy that this is - tears welled up in my eyes.

I am both shocked and saddened. Life has many twists and turns. Meredith you are in a better place now and I believe that you are now happy and at peace where you are. You will live forever. You will never ever be forgotten. Your life and memory has enriched all our lives. Your life is eternal. Keep Smiling:+)

Posted by Paddy5000 on 12/26/09 at 01:02 AM | #

Wayra, I just have to commend you on the beauty of this sentence and its sentiment:

“But it is the luminous qualities of her intelligence, her joy as the highest expression of gratitude for life, that make her image radiate the beauty to which we are drawn again and again.”

How true and well-spoken. Thanks!

Posted by Earthling on 12/26/09 at 04:06 AM | #

Wow! This was strikingly beautiful to see and something that reminds us all of Meredith. Everything I have read about Meredith shows me that, she was indeed a beautiful being. Everything I see and read about the family also reminds me that her family is also beautiful and wonderful people. At times like this, there should be more pictures and personal stories about Meredith to show, “Yes. She was definitely someone.”

Posted by annjell on 12/27/09 at 01:23 AM | #

RIP Meredith. Hope her family and friends will get the closure they need, to live on, as Meredith would no doubt have wanted.

Posted by Poirot on 12/27/09 at 08:23 PM | #
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