celebrating to do

“This is a day of celebration!

Today, we are divorcing the past and marrying the present.

Dance, and you will find God in every room.

Today, we are divorcing resentment

and marrying forgiveness.

Sing, and God will find you in every tune.

Today, we are divorcing indifference

and marrying love.

Drink, and play that tambourine against your thighs.

We have so much celebrating to do!”

                               Kamand Kojouri

_____________________________________

Somedays it seems,

today for example,

its seems as if the dark demons

that haunt the human soul

are winning

as if such powerful forces as

resentment

fed and nurtured

as if old patterns

of racism and bias

as if a profound indifference

rooted in essential selfishness

rule

and will determine our path forward

to a place where graft

and hate

oppression

and neglect

turn our world, our nation

even our communities

in to apocalyptic horrors

Jesus once said “the kingdom of heaven is near”

But in this moment it feels as if it has never been more distant

as if we are not traveling through the wilderness into the promised land

but leaving the promised land

and moving full speed into the wasteland

(and no, I don’t believe that by destroying the planet we hasten the kingdom…

 Jesus made it clear the we are to make things on this earth as they “are in heaven”

 Think the Lord’s Prayer.  Drop that notion or drop the prayer)

Some days,

Today for example,

it is tempting to give up

and let resentment take its course

and yet there are other forces

other than resentment

and greed

and hate

there are tools other than lies

and abusive power

subterfuge and deception

There is forgiveness

And generosity

There is active engagement in acts of love

There is truth,

And justice

There is love

And there is Love, that power, that force

Which created all

and which has

time and time and time again

brought us back to the promised land!

there is God’s new thing

So this day

Even as the world crumbles

Let us turn to Love

And turning let us hope

And let us love

And let us dance

And Drink,

and play that tambourine against our thighs.

We have so much celebrating to do!”