Just be there

What we call sins are usually more symptoms of sin. Sin is primarily living outside of union; it is a state of separation—when the part poses as the Whole. It’s the loss of any inner experience of who you are in God. “Sins” often have more to do with ignorance than actual malice. Disconnected people may become malicious, but they did not start there. They began in union, and disunion became their experienced lie.

You can’t accomplish or work up to union with God, because you’ve already got it… You cannot ever become worthy or “perfect” by yourself; you can only reconnect to your Infinite Source. The biblical revelation is about awakening, not accomplishing. It is about realization, not performance. You cannot get there, you can only be there…

                                                                           Richard Rohr, Daily Mediation

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No matter what you call it

It’s there

The “other”

The Sacred

God

Something great than one’s self

There is something that holds the universe together

Something that shapes the very nature of creation

A power that permeates everything

From the flowers, and trees, to the birds, and fish and animals

And us

Especially us

There is something we participate in

Something woven into the fabric of our being

Some call it God

Whatever it is, it is all about creativity

And unity

It is about generosity and kindness

It is about love

Especially love

When we are allied to this power/essence/being

We have tapped into the very power of the universe

And we have connected with love

And we can live love

When we are disconnected?

Well it gets ugly

It becomes “all about me”

We become grasping and greedy

Fearful and hateful

Cruel and without compassion

We live out our disassociation

Our lives become a lie

And we do terrible things to others, ourselves, and even creation

“Sin” is disassociation with the Scared

“Salvation” is finding once again, that which has always been

The original blessing

So walk, read, pray, meditate, write, serve

Reconnect

It is that easy (and that hard)

Be who you are

Real

The practice of curating parts of oneself is something many of us do to some degree. We carefully create a persona, but it's always only one that's partially true. And maintaining this created personality, this assembled self, can be pretty exhausting.

I often think that the effort we put into pretending is based in a fear of really being known, of truly being seen as we actually are. I mean, perhaps we each have a wound or a vulnerable place that we have to protect in order to survive, and yet sometimes we overcompensate so much for the things we're trying to hide, that no one ever suspects the truth. And then we're left in the aloneness of never really being known.

In the end, the only real love in the world is found when you let yourself be truly known. And faith, to me, isn't about belief, it's about the fact that I am most known and most loved by God, the one who created me to begin with.

                                                                           Nadia Bolz-Weber

___________________________________________________

It’s exhausting being me

Or at least being the “me” that I want you to see

Yep, its true

I am not all that sure I want you to know who I really am

This particular soul has closets, lots of them

Full of stuff I’d rather not have known

Old mistakes

Lingering fear

Pits of anger

Crappy self-talk

And so I hide, a lot

I put up barriers and lurk behind them

Hoping no one will see

No one will know

And in the end I am alone

Or at least lonely

Cut off from connection by my own effort

By that persona I have so carefully craft

Sucks doesn’t it?

There is of course one know knows me as I am

And One who loves me (or so I’m told) anyway

There is One who would set me free

By loving me enough that I would dare to be open

Dare to be honest

Dare to be real

All it takes

To change everything

Is a little faith

let love discover you

“We do not need to go out and find love; rather, we need to be still and let love discover us.”

― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

______________________________

Looking for love, is something most of us do

We urgently seek to find

Acceptance

Passion

Connection

We try so hard to find Mr. Right

The Perfect Woman

We act witty

We brag

We preen

We try to impress

But sadly it is all a matter of us sending our energy out

Flooding the space around us

Our efforts become a spiritual moat,

A barrier to what we seek

Instead of trying so hard

We should, fundamentally, quit trying

We should stop

Breathe

And Just be

Open,

Quiet

Listening

Ready to receive

Oh yes, there is giving to be done

But our biggest need to embrace the love, as it comes

Welcoming it into our heart

Our Soul

Welcoming the other

Welcoming the Other, who is love

a work in progress

I am often a mess

often needy and grasping for acceptance and affection

often a "fixer"

often too busy to notice

I can be cold

I can be closed

I can be grasping

I can make myself a pest

I can end up in

Paradox hell

Trapped by conflicting priorities

Desires

Loves

All I really want to be connected with something bigger than myself

All I want is to be connected to others

To help others

And yes, to be helped by them

I want peace

I want joy

I want to wake up wanting to dance

I want to feel valued,

I want to feel loved

Forget big houses

Nice cars

And all the rest

I want to sit on a deck, watching the sunset

Holding hands with someone who is as passionate about me

As I am about them

How do I get there

Letting go would help, of expectations, rules, fears, hates

Being present would help too…. Being there for others

Offering not sympathy, which is often shallow and cheap

But empathy

Embracing their joy, embracing their pain

And yet I am often a mess

Often lonely

Often a pain

I guess all I can say is that I am a work in progress

And so my prayer for this day

On these late summer, early fall evening is….

A little love

A little wisdom

A little patience

A lot of openness

With a side of hope

please

inside out

 “Try saying this silently to everyone and everything you see for thirty days: “I wish you happiness now and whatever will bring happiness to you in the future.” If we said it to the sky, we would have to stop polluting; if we said it when we see ponds and lakes and streams, we would have to stop using them as garbage dumps and sewers; if we said it to small children, we would have to stop abusing them;…if we said it to people, we would have to stop stoking the fires of enmity around us. Beauty and human warmth would take root in us like a clear, hot June day. We would change.”        Joan Chittister:

_____________________________________________

We are transformed

By Sacred work at the center of our being

There is re-construction going on

Deep down, in that place where the Sacred dwells

Change happens at the level of the heart

It moves to that place where we form our values and attitudes

And then oozes it way to the surface,

Being made evident by what we say, and how we act

There is a journey inward,

And then a journey outward

We can aid that process

We can seek to open our soul to Sacred Presence

Through mediation, prayer, and so much more

I highly recommend walks with one’s dog

Then we work on changing out attitudes

And so as an act of will, we wish the earth well

The animals well

Friends and neighbors well

Loved ones well,

And yes, I suspect, our enemies well (although that is advanced practice)

May you be safe

May you be well

May you be happy

May you be at peace

Lovingkindness

If we can let it take root

Like a beautiful fall day

Then we will change

We will change

(and perhaps our world will too)

love not fear

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”

― Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays

____________________________________

What are you afraid of?

Being alone

Being unloved

Being a failure

Being a fool?

Who are you afraid of?

Spiders?

Blacks

Immigrants

ICE

Men

Women

Republicans

Democrats?

Fear is a dreadful thing

It freezes us

It makes us want to run

But at its worst, it makes us ugly people

Cruel people

Abusive people

In the name of fear we judge

We exclude

We minimize we oppress

Fear makes us small

Put fearful people together

And feed on that fear?

We know what that looks like

It looks like anger

Like brains shut down

Hearts closed

It looks like 12,000 kids incarcerated

Black men shot in their own apartments

It looks like acceptance of the unacceptable

I can be fear based

I can fail to do what I love

I can end up doing what I despise

Fear makes us small

It makes our minds small

Our hearts small

Wrap fear in the flag

And it becomes nationalism

Wrap fear with the trappings of religion

And it looks like

Followers of Jesus violating the way of Jesus

And supporting the unsupportable

Wrap fear in this soul

And it looks like a person desperately seeking acceptance

And love

And respect

And making a mess of things, and driving love away

Perfect love casts out fear

Perfect love is Sacred Presence

Come O Sacred One

Make your home in this fearful soul

Make your home in all fearful souls

May we be bound together by love

Not fear

in the silence

"Let us simply stop and start listening to our own hearts. There we will touch a lot of pain. We will possibly touch a lot of anger. We will possibly touch a lot of loneliness and anguish. Then we will hear something deeper. We will hear the voice of Jesus"

                                                                           Jean Vanier

________________________________________________

We jump out of bed

Grab our smart phones

Fire up our computers

Turn on the TV

Crank up the tunes

We fill our ears and eyes constantly

Rarely are we quiet

And in the presence

Of God

Or others

And yet in the silence important things come

Through those moments of presence

Come the things we try to avoid in our busyness

The pain, and fear

The memories

The emptiness

But good things come as well

Love

Joy

Peace

Hope

And yes

The Sacred speaks too

That still small voice

That living Presence

Of Love Him/Herself

go for it

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it. It's like boats. You keep your motor on so you can steer with the current. And when you hear the sound of the waterfall coming nearer and nearer, tidy up the boat, put on your best tie and hat, and smoke a cigar right up till the moment you go over. That's a triumph.”

                                             Ray Bradbury, Farewell Summer

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I am like an emotional magnet

Whatever comes my way, I tend to bind it to myself

Awful memories

Negative mental scripts

Disappointments

Fears

Anger

Just call me Velcro man

I tend to grab hold and strangle

I have a death grip on my need to impress

A stranglehold on my need to be a success

And yet there is reality

Which is far from what I envision and desire

I want to be present, and I am not

I want to help, but fall short

I want to be admired, but stir up enmity and disrespect

I am over extended

A poor listener (I am great at talking)

I am constantly search for something better

For things that seem just out of reach

I obsess over Herod 2.0

And over those who are being left behind

I cannot flow with the current

I want to turn the damn boat around, and fight the flow

But that only means I go forward backwards

It is time to let go

To live in the day

And embrace the moment

To take life as if comes

And if I go over the falls

The fall will be spectacular

I will be dressed to die

And the cigar will be supreme

Peace my friends

Triumph

Hungry

“I want to see the thirst inside the syllables

I want to touch the fire in the sound:

I want to feel the darkness of the cry. I want

words as rough

as virgin rocks.” - Verb.”

                               Pablo Neruda

_____________________________________

In the cool autumn morning

the day half formed

a paler sun struggling to crest

the horizon

if flaming summer brilliance cooled

to a softer hue

I walk

the road rough beneath my feat

dusty and unfriendly

in this discreet moment

thoughts rage and feeling roar

and I notice

that in that inner fire there is life

and hope

how seducing it is,

the idea of simply sliding into apathy

and yet

if all minds quieted

if all voices were stilled

if the rough edges of life were to ease

we would slide slowly and gently

into evil and into death

here is to the thirst, the fire, the darkness

here is to living on the rough edges

here is to risking, loving, speaking

life

Retreat

“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion."

[The Minotaur]” ― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

__________________________________

Shu the cat, the tiny calico she demon

Has the number of Finn the dog, large wussy dog

It is clear they have met in dark alleys

And it is equally clear that Finn has felt the sting of Shu’s claws

Finn will still cavort, jumping and diving around Shu, enticing her to play

But Finn is no fool

And he knows when to stop

Indeed, he has launched his 70 plus pounds toward the door

On his way out

Only to meet Shu, one her way in

You have never seen a dog stop so quickly

There are times to dive into the fray

But there are also times to pull away

Retreat is not a bad word

It does not reflect weakness...

Sometimes it is merely a recognition on one’s limits, and it is time for re-creation.

Sometimes it is a way to admit that one has lost one’s way, and it is time to evaluate

Sometimes it is simply a matter of running into a wall, and needing to find another road towards the same destination.

And sometimes it is because who we are, in the middle of the fray

Is not who we want to be

Sometimes we need to retreat not because we are losing, or lost, or stuck

But because we are becoming whom we do not want to be

And we must retreat

To find the Sacred

To find the Sacred within us

To find ourselves

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Choices

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

                              Albert Einstein

___________________________

I admit it

I can be inflexible

Rigid

Perhaps the right word is stuck

I get stuck in my opinion

Stuck in old patterns

Stuck in behaviors

I suffer all too often from psychological inflexibility

I am not present in the moment

It’s all about the past

It’s all about the future

Its all about me

Not the me that really is

But the me that I create through my thoughts, feeling, experiences, memories

All my self-definitions and judgments

From this place of self-absorption

And preoccupation

I find my head filled with thoughts and feelings

That don’t work

The stop me

Freeze me

They make me immobile, unable to act

They stop me from being who I want to be

But I’ll be damned if I’ll un-fuse

Not way, will I let go, become open

No way will I listen

Move to another perspective

Nope

I’ve created my story, and I’m sticking to it

I’ve developed my self-image, and I’ve made it who I am

I’ve got my mental scripts set

My ideology fixed

I am one stuck dude

I have company of course

All those people who love Trump

All those who worship Bernie

Right wing evangelicals

Left wing snowflakes

And most of us in between, who regular find ourselves

Unable to move toward the things we most desire

Yep.

Stuck

Stuck

Stuck

And inflexible

But when it comes to psychological health

Flexibility is the game

When we are flexible it is not all about the past

Nor all about the future

Is about this moment

And it is about the “me” experiencing this moment

But that “me” has to stand a little apart

from the place of self-absorption

And preoccupation

It has to step away from those thoughts and feelings

A little apart from those mental scripts that

Stop me and freeze

“I can’t do this”

“I am not good enough”

“It is hopeless”

My head screams

But is just my brain (a bully) telling me stuff

So I have to say, “My brain is telling me I can’t do this, it is time to step away from the brain”

And let the thoughts, and fears, and scripts go…

De-fuse

And then, remember who I want to be

And what I want to do

And who I want to be close to

And then, I have to act

I have to choose

In the presence of fear, of pain

In the echo chamber of my disappointments and errors

In the face of my ideology

Then I have to choose to move toward

Whatever, whomever is important to me

What thoughts keep me stuck?

What behaviors, move me the wrong direction/

Can I notice when I move away from kindness

From inclusion

From openness

Into defensiveness, isolation and rigidity?

And can I choose to listen to my better angels?

That is the question for this, and every day

Presence

When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence.

How can you love if you are not there?

                                             Thich Nhat Hanh

__________________________________________

I spend my day today

Wandering around my vast rural county

OK, OK

Don’t get excited

I only drive about 80 miles (round trip)

and all I did was talk to people

I wandered into hospital rooms

And into the living rooms of people

Mostly older and frail

Some of them close to prisoners in their homes

Due to infirmity

Or perhaps fear

Nothing profound was said

A few prayers were spoken

We talked about children and grandchildren

About aches and pains

About going home

Or leaving home

We talked about thing of no importance at all

And of things of utmost importance

But really the words were not the thing

It was simply presence

Simply being there

It is always humbling to see someone’s face light up

When you walk in the room

Very chastening when they are surprised,

because it has been so long since you have been there

but even then, it is clear that all is forgiven

as we talk

and sometimes, as we sit in silence

Being present

it is perhaps the greatest gift that can be given

for how can we love if we are not there

I can preach powerful sermons

I can play prophet

I can sing

And plan programs

I can do so much

But sometimes what is important is that I be…..

Present

Let’s be present for each other friends

Let us be there

Be there in silence

Be there with words of comfort

Be there with a helping hand

Be there with nothing at all

But let us be there

With all that we have and are

For that is the greatest gift we can possibly offer

soft front, firm back

All too often our so-called strength comes from fear, not love; instead of having a strong back, many of us have a defended front shielding a weak spine.  In other words, we walk around brittle and defensive, trying to conceal our lack of confidence.  If we strengthen our backs, metaphorically speaking, and develop a spine that’s flexible but sturdy, then we can risk having a front that’s soft and open… How can we give and accept care with strong-back, soft-front compassion, moving past fear into a place of genuine tenderness.  I believe it comes about when we can be truly transparent, seeing the world clearly – and letting the world see into us

                                                                           Roshi Joan Halifax, quote by Brene Brown

_____________________________________________

What does it mean to be strong?

To put up a strong front, never showing weakness?

To be forceful, insisting one’s own way?

Does it mean asserting one’s power?

Does it involve “winning”

Does it mean being “above” others

Are the strong those who are the richest?

Who have the positions and the titles?

Are they the ones who cow others, and bend others to their will?

The brutal?

I think there is such a thing as faux strength

We strength is when the front is hard, but the back is soft

When all that is holding the person up, is what they can literally throw at others

Such people throw out harsh words

They engage in brutal behaviors

They hide behind position and wealth

They are often bullies

Bulls in the china shop

And they leave wounded people behind them, as they flail toward what they want

But inside there is emptiness, and fear

And inability to have compassion, on either themselves or others

We know such people when we encounter them

They leave us cold and empty, they make our stomachs hurt and as asses twitch

They may fool us for a while

But eventually we feel the impact of the abyss that exists within their soul

Hard fronts, soft backs

But there are others

Who are generous, and kind

Who seek what is best for others

Who lift others up

Who accept rather than reject

Welcome rather than exclude

These are people willing to be wrong

Willing to be vulnerable

Willing to let other people in

Sometimes we think these people are soft

Snowflakes

Bleeding hearts

Libertards (perhaps)

but behind the soft exterior, there is something strong

Something profound

Call it love

Call it the Sacred

Call it inner strength

Call it insight, or wisdom

Call it what you will

But these people do not live in fear

They do not need to oppress and minimize others to feel OK about themselves

They do not have to use and manipulate to have healthy egos

They have strong backs

They are held up by what is more powerful than

Hate, or fear, or even death

They are help up, strengthened, by Sacred Presence

and Sacred Love

They have soft fronts

They can smile

They can be open and honest

They can embrace

But they can stand firm, they can survive the worst

They can continue to be a force for good, even when surrounded by evil

Softs fronts, strong backs

That is the way I want to be

A person with a soft front, and a firm back

ONCE UPON A TIME

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

                                                                                          Robert F. Kennedy

_______________________________________________________

There was a time

When those in power sought to change the world

To shape history

Not to change the world into one where they had power

Where they had wealth

Where they had safety and comfort

But to change the world into a place

Where everyone was respected

Everyone was helped to become more than they were

Where people are willing to sacrifice to improve the lot of others,

To end injustice,

To stand up for the truth,

And for what is right and ethical

There was a time when our leaders sought to lift us all up

To new heights

To compassion

Generosity

Creativity

And even, yes even, love

They were not perfect, these leaders

They had their moments where they moved toward war

When they had affairs

Its not easy having power and money

And staying ethical, and moral, and kind

Jimmy Carter did it, and we disliked him, and judged him weak

But still

The first President I really paid attention to was JFK

In the summer before he was murdered

I met him

He was driving through the streets of Rome

There to attend the investiture of Pope Paul VI

We were standing in the middle of a deserted plaza as he drove in

He sparked hope, and progess

It was a powerful time

And then he was killed

By hate?  By those who wanted to manipulate and control

But those who had darker purposes?

There have been many more since then

Good, indifferent, lucky, and now?

Now the one who leads our country

And the ones who enable him

Seem to have lost sight of leadership

If they are seeking to bend history, it is toward things that benefit them, no others

If they are striking out it is against the very things that create justice, and equity

There are no acts of courage

Only deals made in back rooms

Lies in public

And numerous acts of corruption

And so history is being shaped

But waters that are dark

And ripples are those of despair

I am not a pessimist

I believe that we are Sacred Children

And that ultimately the Sacred will win

Love will win

And I believe that we are called to resist

And fight the looming oppression

But with the Psalmist I cry, “How long?”

And I worry about the carnage that may ensue

Before things are set right

I worry about how many immigrants will be turned away to die

About how many people will die unnecessary deaths because we have to make money off of health care

About how many young black people will be gunned down

About how many will die of cancer because preventive care has been cut

About how many LGBTQI people will lose their jobs

About how many children will grow up in poverty and be twisted forever by ACES (Adverse Childhood Evnets)

Because of these leaders

This government

I worry about how many innocents will die in other countries

About whether we will see the rebirth of nuclear warfare

About how many species will cease to exist

About how many people will end up starving and home due to war and climate change

Because of these leaders

This government

I understand that you may think I am being sensationalistic

But I look at the world through the eyes of the my faith

From the perspective of one who follows a God who is love

And I am grieved

By this administration

By the so called “evangelical church” which enables it

By those who have doubled down and become entrenched in racism, and hate

There has been a lot of history between that President who touch my life in my early years (1963)

And now

I was so thrilled to see my President on that day in Rome

Today, I would probably lower my head

Turn, and tearfully walk away

Praying

Praying

Praying

Lord from our worst selves, deliver us

New Skins

lord

spread wide your arms

and protect us

from the multitude of your guardians

stand by those who wander

who’ve not lost the gift of hearing

and listen within their solitude

stand by those who stay and wait for you

lord

I refuse to engage prayers as a weapon

I wish it to be like a river between two shores

for I seek neither punishment nor grace

but new skin

that can bear this world

                                             Said

___________________________________________________

lord save me from people of faith

from those who would protect you

from those who would sell you

vend you

save me from those who would stand between you and I

telling me your will for my life

offering me their version of who you are

for frankly lord, what they are telling me doesn’t compute

it doesn’t add it

if I were to believe them, you are angry

cruel

judgmental

you callously send most people into eternal conscious torment

you hate a lot of people

and you teach your people to hate too

you teach your people to look down on the poor

to look down on people of color

to look down on people created in your image

but created LGBTQI

you teach your people not to just look down on others

but to shame them

exclude them

oppress them

From what I understand

You are love

From what I read, you made all people in your image

From what my soul tells, me, you are present in me, and in every person who lives

From what I see in Jesus, you are kind, generous, and forgiving

I do not see you in your guardians

I do not see you in the shouting, arrogant white males on TV

I do not see you in the Bible waving people who treat others with disrespect, because they are different

I do not see you in those who shame the poor

Or shame women

I do not see you in the pastors and priests who grope young women

and excuse their behavior by shaming those women

I do not see you in people who create chaos and anger in a Facebook thread,

And then, when it is clear they have lost the argument, try to shame people for standing against them

Accuse them of being “judgmental” and say “I’ll pray for you”

I do not see you the 100 Judases who sat down with Herod

And then presented him with a Bible, touting his greatness

While excusing the fact that in thought, word and deed, he is the enemy of Jesus

I do not see you in a Christianity that is all about personal gain

Personal safety

I do not see you in a faith that is nothing more than fire insurance

Or a tool to be used in order to coerce and manipulate others into an antiquated cultural social norm

TV evangelists make my ass twitch (French Kiss)

So does the “Ark Experience”

So does the Family Research Council, and all others who espouse bigotry in God’s name

I do not like much of what now passes for Christianity

For it seems to have little to do with Christ

Christianity started as a religion for losers

For “the least of these”

Lord, when it got power, your Church changed

We starting looking at the world from the position of maintaining power and social order instead of experiencing the profound power of powerlessness that Jesus revealed.

we stopping giving up all, even our lives

we stopped being generous

and kind

and sacrificial

and became power hungry, and entitled

We stopped meeting in caves, and built auditoriums with theater seats

And special effects

In short, Christianity almost became a different religion!

It became not Christian

I hate this lord

I am a pastor

I love you

I love your way

I don’t live it very well, some of the time, but I love it

But some much of what is being taught, and lived by those who call themselves Christian

Has nothing to do with Jesus

and I want to walk away

not from You, Lord

but from the title, the label, away from a church that

can give a messed up man a Bible, not to change him,

but to empower him.

Away from a church that spouts arrogance and an implicit selfishness from its very pores.

So, lord

Help me to listen

Help me to hear

Help me to pray

Help me to use prayer and faith in love

that sacred love might flow, like a river, between myself and those around me

Give me a new skin,

and help me be comfortable in that new skin

take me a new way

where I, through the Sacred power that resides in me (and in each of us), lifts us up world

or at least the people in it

or at the very least, the people whose lives I touch

Its all about the question

It is all about

the question

how we see things,

the path we decide to take

often depends on the question we ask

in America today,

we have been infected with a virulent case of essential selfishness

and so the question we have been asking is simply this

“Is it good for me!”

Thus, if you ask many people who support the current administration

They will point to the economy

Or they will point to legislation that supports the comfortable status quo

Or to priorities that create what feels like increased security or safety

If the only question is

“Do I Gain?”

Then any act that strengthens the economy is good

Even if it hurts other people

Even if it creates inequity

Even if it means that some people are functionally abused (not paid a living wage)

Or the earth is devastated (carving up national monuments so they can mine and drill)

If the only question is

“Do I Gain?”

Then any action that supports me and the values and priorities I am comfortable with is good

Even if it means that injustice is perpetuated

Even if it means that people who have a color, or creed, or culture different from mine are functionally oppressed.

If the only question is

“Do I gain?”

Then any act that makes me FEEL more secure is good

Even if it means spending money on an already bloated military rather than on education

Even if it means shutting our borders to people fleeing genocide and violence

Even if it means separating children from their parents, housing them in cages, and exposing them to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.

But of course our own essential selfishness will usually turn against us

Economic inequity will evening cause the economy to implode

Perpetuating injustice and prejudice, oppression and minimization has a terrible moral and spiritual cost

And trying to make ourselves self with brutality and “power over” tactics simply makes us hated

We make a terrible mess of things when we start with the wrong question

So we must start with the right question

A man named James, way back almost 2000 years ago, talked a little bit about this

In a powerful little paragraph, he should be congruent

In other words, he suggests our lives should line up

The things we think, say, and do, should have consistency

We should do what we say

Practice what we preach

So it makes a difference what we think and say

For that drives what we do

People who start with “Do I Gain?” start in the wrong place, and end in the wrong place

Driven by that question they support the immoral

They shut down their hearts

They support the unsupportable

This is the question behind the evangelical “Christian” support of Mr. Trump

This is the question that drives Mr. Trump

This is the question that drives Jerry Falwell Jr. and Jeffries and so many others

This is the question that is destroy our nation

This is the question that is destroying the faith called Christianity

So what is the right question?

James gives us a hint

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world”

There are really two questions

The first question, prompted by “keep oneself unstained’ is simply this…..

“Is it right?!”  “Is it moral, ethical”

We can throw a lot of words into that equation…

But fundamentally we must ask if somethings is loving, kind, generous, constructive, unifying…

Does it support what is good?

Does it bring to life our better angels?

The second question is related.

Does it protect and lift up the vulnerable

“Religion that is pure and undefiled, that is truly Sacred, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress”

Do my words

Do my actions

Do the politicians I support

Do the policies I support

Protect and lift up

Racial minorities?

Religious minorities?

People in the LBGTQI community?

People who are poor, or aged?

People who have mental health issues, or people who are addicted?

Do my thoughts, words, and actions help the vulnerable?

We know what this means

We may not like what it means (I don’t at times)

But we know what this means,

About how we think about others

About how we see others

About how we talk to others

About how we talk about others (ouch, this one really hits me hard)

About how we behave toward others

About whom we support politically

About what policies we endorse

We know what this means

About how we use our money

Use our influence

Use our voices

Is it right?  Is it consistent with the commands to Love God and love our Neighbor (which then leads to love of self)

Does it protect and life up the vulnerable?

What a difference it makes, when we start with the right questions

Stand firm

In the middle of the river the boulder sits

Moss covered, and cracked

Around it, chaotically roaring

Insistent and powerful

The water surges

Feed from melting snow and sudden rains

Smaller, lesser rocks roll

Larger rocks rumble

Down the stream

Driven by the force of the water

Which will not be denied

But still this rock sits

Solid

Breaking the will of the water

Which must part

Change direction

For this rock is rooted deep

This rock has the strength that comes

For that deep connection with that

From which it has been birthed

We too live in the middle of chaos

All around us the waters roar

Pushing us this way and that

Trying to move us

Propel us

Into places we do not want to go

Greed and the lust for power rumble

Racism, sexism

Prejudice

Flow powerfully

We feel the pressure

Constant

Unrelenting

Can we stand?

Can we force the waters to part?

Only if we are rooted

Only if we understand what we value

What we believe

And only if we are deeply rooted in that from which we came

The Sacred

When we are rooted, we just are

We do not have to flail and assail

We do not have to minimize or dismiss

We do not have to fear and exclude

We do not have to call others names, or bully

We can simply stand

Instead of saying, “XXX is awful”, or worse, “YOU are awful”,

We can say, “based upon the fact that the Sacred calls us to love all people, and

See all others as Sacred Children, I cannot accept……..”

We stand

We force those forces that would destroy

To break, to part, to move

It is difficult to just stand

To be in the moment, rooted

It is easier to roll, crushing all in our path

Allowing the very things we would resist

To control us, move us, push us

But stand we must

This day

Every day

Anger

“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”

― Aristotle

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”

― Ambrose Bierce

_____________________________________

Yeah, it has been a day

I suspect my more conservative friends are ready to disown me

I certainly have been ready to disown them

OK, OK

Not really

But today when my anger over the “way of the world”

has gotten to me

Seriously

I am tired of the lies

The greedy

The shaming of the poor

The excuses for hideous behavior by those who should, who must, do better

I am tired of the hate

The prejudice

The illogical arguments

The blind nationalism that makes people cruel

I am not ashamed of anger

I do not believe it is wrong

But, Aristotle has it right

One has “to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way…”

And there are times I am angry at the wrong person, to the wrong degree, at the wrong time, for the wrong purpose, and most frequently of all, in the wrong way

Damn

I hate it when that happens

I hate myself when that happens

When I over react

When I attack a person personally

Or use my knowledge, and skill with words, to essentially bully another

When I build abysses, rather than bridges

When I push away, rather than draw toward

When I make the best speech I come to regret

Ah, my friends

Those who cheer me on

Those who are frustrated and repelled

Those who are angry back….

Those who have, perhaps, chosen to reject me

We can do better

I can do better

I will always challenge what I don’t think is right

That’s just me

But HOW I do it is important

Just as how we create safety as a country matters (caging kids is not it)

Just as how we create wealth matters (ruining the environment, and abusing workers is not it)

Just as how we use our power is important (being a bully on twitter, or shooting POC is not it)

So it is time to disagree

Maybe time for anger…..

but

Where God is found

“As a general rule, I would say that human beings never behave more badly toward one another than when they believe they are protecting God.”

                               Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

_____________________________________________________________

People behave pretty poorly when they think they need to protect God

(as if)

They judge

They exclude

They hate

They start wars

They legislate morality (or try)

The call people names

The minimize and dehumanize

And marginalize

They condemn people to death

Either slow deaths by neglect (as they shame and ignore the poor)

Or quick deaths (as they reject refugees, or champion the death penalty)

Seem harsh?

Look at the worst things our society has done?

Most of it has been done in the name of God

But here is the thing

In the parable of the sheep and the goats

Yes, that one, where the righteous religious folk are compared to randy goats

And the bleeding heart socialist types are compared to sheep

It is made perfectly clear

Where God is to be found

In the immigrant at the border

In the young black man lying dead in the street

In the young woman being abused by her boyfriend or husband

In the old man passed out in a door way

In the poverty stricken angry white person in a MAGA hat

God is found in

The poor, the homeless, the old

The ill, the mentally ill

In the person of color

In the most vulnerable, messed up people in our midst

And how we treat them

Is how we treat God

How we love them

Is how we love God

How we fail to love them

Is how we fail to love God

And how we fail to serve them

Is how we fail to serve God

Any questions?

(My only question, is

How do I do it?

I can’t

Honestly

I can’t

But the Sacred in me

As it is awake

As it is given room to move

By faith, humility, and more

Can

It won’t always turn out perfectly

Because I still get in the way

But I can try

I can “put on” the kindness, patience, and generosity of God

And I can lean on God, for help, for hope, and forgiveness,

When I fail)