On that day

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On that day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David

and repair its breaches

    and raise up its ruins

    and rebuild it as in the days of old,

                               Amos 9:11

 

Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.

                               Attributed to John Lennon

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the hut is tottering

that place we have safely dwelt

no longer

protects us from the storm

 

the hail and winds

of racism, deceit, and greed

have stormed against

its very foundation

 

the poor are neglected

the elderly abandoned

the stranger is not welcome

disappeared

by people in black

 

justice is no more

compassion is a sin

 

the hut is tottering

for a house built on lies

cannot stand

 

a house divided

cannot stand

 

a house inside whose walls

cruelty

is legislated and legalized

cannot stand

 

this hut may fall

and great will be its fall

all empires end

 

but with God

there is always

resurrection

 

a rising up out of the rubble

a rebuilding

 

this is the promise of God

the hope enfleshed by GodWithUs

and empowered by GodInUs

 

the end is never the end

it is always the beginning

 

this day

as we huddle in the midst of

disintegration

 

remind us Beloved

that you

are the One who makes

all things

new

 

 

On waking

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It is Tuesday

Five o’clock AM

it’s Tuesday

why should I get up

I don’t want to get up

perhaps I could lie here

all day

forever

 

it is Tuesday

I wonder what the man of lies

will do today

 

do I even want to know

what if I simply did not read the news

would it go away

 

it is Tuesday

is there anything on my calendar

that matters

that would make a difference

to anyone, anywhere

 

is there anything I can do

that will help turn the tide

away from hate toward love

away from exclusion to inclusion

 

anything I can do to soothe the soul

of an LGBTQI+ friend who is frightened

the old person terrified

the check won’t come

 

the person barely making it day by day

on the end of poverty, hunger, homelessness

 

it is Tuesday

I know I need to get up

pull up my big boy pants

and get to work

 

yes, there are things to be challenged

there are sermons to write

minutes to complete

people to call

services to be planned

groceries to be bought

 

it all seems so mundane

 

but there are people who need to be heard

people who need a presence

people who need to be affirmed

hugged

smiled at

treated with compassion

love

 

there are people who need me

and I need them

 

it is Tuesday

I don’t want to get up

But I can’t just lie here

all day

forever

 

 

No one expected the golden calf

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I can imagine

Moses headed down the mountain

Head filled with expectations

Of how I was going to be

 

In his hands, treasures

The words of God

A vision of life together

 

Where the people

Freed by God,

Led by God

Sustained by God

 

Loving God, And each other

 

And are at peace with themselves

Violence free

Fearless

Content

 

But that is not what he found

Instead, he found a people

Worshipping

That which could not free, lead,

Sustain

 

Something dead

Robbing them of life

And community

 

A bad coping mechanism, a cheap replacement

A faux savior

With nothing to offer

But falsehood

 

A costly god

Who robbed them of more than gold

 

He did not want to be a prophet

He did not want to

See what he saw

 

He did not want to be placed in a position

To reveal

Correct

 

But he had no choice

Those dancing around the golden calf

Were lost

Doomed

If he did not speak

 

The tables crashed and cracked

The dust rose from the dried earth

 

The golden calf

Was toppled, burned, crushed

Dust to dust

a bitter draught

 

it was a painful lesson

a hard stop

 

in the end?

they woke up, repented

And started over again

 

But the journey was longer and harder

And more painful

 

Consequences

 

I do not want to be a prophet

I have the dream of being a part of a people 

Freed by God,

Led by God

Sustained by God

 

Of a people loving God

And each other

 

At peace with themselves

Violence free

Fearless

Content

 

Instead, I stand

With little more than the scriptures in my hand

With that dream of a people

Who are poor in spirit, merciful, and kind,

Ready to be blessed and be a blessing

 

Instead, I see a  people

Worshipping things other

Than GodIs, GodWithUs, GodInUs

watching them make idols

out of power, wealth

and yes people

 

I see a people unable to trust

unable to wait

trying to make it happen - without god

 

using human power

human strategies

human cruelty

 

so here I stand

knowing that what is happening leads only

to stagnation, and death

bleached bones

in the desert

 

the cheap replacements

the faux saviors have nothing to offer

they are costly idols that rob

us all of our humanity

 

I cannot be silent

I must speak

It might work, it might not

They might listen, they might not

 

They may cast me away

And continue their dance

But still

I must speak

 

I do not want to be a prophet

It seems I may not have a choice

In the matter

At

All