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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Election Day

The polls are open
People are lined up

Expectant and fearful

I have already voted.  You have to love a state that votes by mail 
Yay! Oregon

But on this day I find I am more than a little pensive
I wish I knew which Romney was the real one
I wish Obama wasn't using drones
I wish the arrogance of wealth hadn't kept Romney from putting forth his tax returns
I wish Obama had changed the culture in Washington DC instead of being gobbled up by it

I wish the economy were better
I wish our country wasn't so divided
I wish

And yet there is some value in this pensiveness
In it lies some valuable lessons

One person isn't going to change our country
its all too big
too profound

We judge the person we are against by our fears
And the person we like by our hopes
and in both cases
that person will fall short

We only succeed as a country
When in humility we realize there is good and bad
on both ends of the spectrum
When we stop demonizing each other
When we stop feeding fear, and start nourishing hope
When we stop grasping and start giving
When we stop hating, and start looking at one another with the eyes of compassion
When we stop hurting and start helping
When we pull together
And realize we are all in this together

Oh, one more thing
To me it also reminds me that we must 
As a nation be more spiritual
not religious, there is more than enough of that
but spiritual

In touch with the sacred
In touch with the God in us
But also aware of the God in that person
Who votes differently from us
Who is poor, and yes, is trying to be responsible for his or her own life
But is battered by illness and poverty
Who is struggling with mental illness
Who is disabled
 
We need God
We need each other!
 
___________________________________________________________________
 
Don't surrender your loneliness (or fear) so quickly
Let it cut more deep
Let it ferment and season you as few human
or even divine ingredients can

something missing in my heart tonight has
made my eyes so soft, my voice so tender

my need of God, absolutely clear
                                   Hafiz


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