new life starts in the dark

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

                                                   Mary Oliver

_______________________________

Hello darkness

my old friend

in the early morning hours

when my chattering brain will not be silent

I sit and look at windows that

do not reveal the world outside

with its mountains soaring

crisply laundered with new fallen snow

but merely stare back

black holes

reflecting

back only a blurred image

of my questing gaze

we have a conflicted relationship

with the dark

sometimes it is comforting

sometimes it is where we hide

unwilling to be seen

but we stumble in the dark

and in the dark we find it hard to escape

our fears

our dark thoughts

and so mostly we would rather

chase it away

we turn on the porch lights

and we spring forward

and fall back

when trapped by darkness we strive toward the light

but there value in the darkness

it can be a gift

in the darkness we are unwrapped

and revealed

in the darkness we are vulnerable

it is no accident that our very being is roiled in the dark

thoughts racing

hearts pounding

souls aching

things happen in the dark

things begin in the dark

in the dark we are vulnerable and open

in that hidden

safe

frightening place

it was no accident that Nicodemus

came stumbling to Jesus in the dark

furtively

hiding

perhaps from himself

perhaps from others

but also ready

in the darkness, to be exposed

transformed

born again

in that place

where nothing we normally rely on means anything

in that place

where we cannot see one step in front of us

in that place

where we are hiding but revealed

in that place

we can let everything go

all our wisdom

all our perceived expertise,

our tight control of our lives

our power

our worldly status

even our tightly defined and controlled

image of God

in that place we can learn to be led

learn to be comforted

learn to be loved

in that place we can be born again

for new life starts in the dark

“Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”  (Barbara Brown Taylor)

Resentment has no place

Resentment, Part Duex

Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear? Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain. It seems safer to embrace what we know than to let go of it for fear of the unknown.

                                                   (Narcotics Anonymous Book/page 33)

______________________________________________

it lies there

like Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger,

your mother’s meatloaf,

or a dry fruitcake.

sitting there, in that deep inner place,

a foul presence

that contaminates our souls

rot, rot, rot

fester, fester, fester

that stuff we carry

that stuff that weakens our heart

clouds our minds

blurs our sight

and leads to

resentment

which leads dark things

like retribution, and cruelty

once upon a time

I was stabbed in the back

It was not that I was blameless in the situation,

but the options were there for openness

and healing

instead there were assumptions

and outright lies

this person was the first person I knew

who owned a minivan

a Dodge

minivan (the only kind there were at that time)

the impact of this person’s feelings, attitudes

and behavior

were profound

and even though the eventual outcomes was just

the facts were twisted

and the offense multiplied

and so for years

every time I saw a minivan

my heart pounded

a lump formed in my stomach

and bile rose

I was not free

I was burdened by the fact

That I could not let go

Could not even try to understand

What it was within this person

That caused them to do what they did

Eventually I got there

And was able to travel

Lighter

Not light

It is really difficult to travel light

Not to pick up

All the things that come our way

The hard comments

The misunderstood statements

The harmful behaviors

The dysfunction

We grab them and hoard them

And if we are not careful

They become our dragon’s hoard

And we wallow and revel in our hurt

and it becomes valuable to us

definition

it becomes who we are

it becomes comfortable

familiar

but it is not who we are

we are Sacred Children

designed for freedom

designed for compassion

and forgiveness

generosity

and love

and so as we sit

staring at the TV screen

hating the voice, the sight of one we abhor

as we see that person who has

“done us wrong”

sitting a few desks away

or a few pews away

or across the kitchen table

as we struggle with our resentment

we are not ourselves

it is resentment

and retribution that are the unnatural acts

that separate us from God

and from one another

As he left a life of imprisonment

and walked down the path to freedom

Nelson Mandela is reported to have said these words,

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”

By contrast, the people of Israel

faced with the broad expanse of the desert

and freedom, and newness

are said to have proclaimed

“we want to go back to Egypt”

“Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred

because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain.”

And make no mistake

Letting go is scary

Forgiving is scary

Trusting is scary

Giving of yourself

Is terrifying

But God calls us to lay down our fear (be not afraid)

And step forth

Into freedom

Resentment has no place

on the journey

to the Kingdom

new life starts in the dark

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

                                                   Mary Oliver

_______________________________

Hello darkness

my old friend

in the early morning hours

when my chattering brain will not be silent

I sit and look at windows that

do not reveal the world outside

with its mountains soaring

crisply laundered with new fallen snow

but merely stare back

black holes

reflecting

back only a blurred image

of my questing gaze

we have a conflicted relationship

with the dark

sometimes it is comforting

sometimes it is where we hide

unwilling to be seen

but we stumble in the dark

and in the dark we find it hard to escape

our fears

our dark thoughts

and so mostly we would rather

chase it away

we turn on the porch lights

and we spring forward

and fall back

when trapped by darkness we strive toward the light

but there value in the darkness

it can be a gift

in the darkness we are unwrapped

and revealed

in the darkness we are vulnerable

it is no accident that our very being is roiled in the dark

thoughts racing

hearts pounding

souls aching

things happen in the dark

things begin in the dark

in the dark we are vulnerable and open

in that hidden

safe

frightening place

it was no accident that Nicodemus

came stumbling to Jesus in the dark

furtively

hiding

perhaps from himself

perhaps from others

but also ready

in the darkness, to be exposed

transformed

born again

in that place

where nothing we normally rely on means anything

in that place

where we cannot see one step in front of us

in that place

where we are hiding but revealed

in that place

we can let everything go

all our wisdom

all our perceived expertise,

our tight control of our lives

our power

our worldly status

even our tightly defined and controlled

image of God

in that place we can learn to be led

learn to be comforted

learn to be loved

in that place we can be born again

for new life starts in the dark

“Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”  (Barbara Brown Taylor)

the stuff we carry

Resentment, Part Duex

Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear? Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain. It seems safer to embrace what we know than to let go of it for fear of the unknown.

                                                   (Narcotics Anonymous Book/page 33)

______________________________________________

it lies there

like Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger,

your mother’s meatloaf,

or a dry fruitcake.

sitting there, in that deep inner place,

a foul presence

that contaminates our souls

rot, rot, rot

fester, fester, fester

that stuff we carry

that stuff that weakens our heart

clouds our minds

blurs our sight

and leads to

resentment

which leads dark things

like retribution, and cruelty

once upon a time

I was stabbed in the back

It was not that I was blameless in the situation,

but the options were there for openness

and healing

instead there were assumptions

and outright lies

this person was the first person I knew

who owned a minivan

a Dodge

minivan (the only kind there were at that time)

the impact of this person’s feelings, attitudes

and behavior

were profound

and even though the eventual outcomes was just

the facts were twisted

and the offense multiplied

and so for years

every time I saw a minivan

my heart pounded

a lump formed in my stomach

and bile rose

I was not free

I was burdened by the fact

That I could not let go

Could not even try to understand

What it was within this person

That caused them to do what they did

Eventually I got there

And was able to travel

Lighter

Not light

It is really difficult to travel light

Not to pick up

All the things that come our way

The hard comments

The misunderstood statements

The harmful behaviors

The dysfunction

We grab them and hoard them

And if we are not careful

They become our dragon’s hoard

And we wallow and revel in our hurt

and it becomes valuable to us

definition

it becomes who we are

it becomes comfortable

familiar

but it is not who we are

we are Sacred Children

designed for freedom

designed for compassion

and forgiveness

generosity

and love

and so as we sit

staring at the TV screen

hating the voice, the sight of one we abhor

as we see that person who has

“done us wrong”

sitting a few desks away

or a few pews away

or across the kitchen table

as we struggle with our resentment

we are not ourselves

it is resentment

and retribution that are the unnatural acts

that separate us from God

and from one another

As he left a life of imprisonment

and walked down the path to freedom

Nelson Mandela is reported to have said these words,

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”

By contrast, the people of Israel

faced with the broad expanse of the desert

and freedom, and newness

are said to have proclaimed

“we want to go back to Egypt”

“Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred

because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain.”

And make no mistake

Letting go is scary

Forgiving is scary

Trusting is scary

Giving of yourself

Is terrifying

But God calls us to lay down our fear (be not afraid)

And step forth

Into freedom

Resentment has no place

on the journey

to the Kingdom

new life starts in the dark

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

                                                   Mary Oliver

_______________________________

Hello darkness

my old friend

in the early morning hours

when my chattering brain will not be silent

I sit and look at windows that

do not reveal the world outside

with its mountains soaring

crisply laundered with new fallen snow

but merely stare back

black holes

reflecting

back only a blurred image

of my questing gaze

we have a conflicted relationship

with the dark

sometimes it is comforting

sometimes it is where we hide

unwilling to be seen

but we stumble in the dark

and in the dark we find it hard to escape

our fears

our dark thoughts

and so mostly we would rather

chase it away

we turn on the porch lights

and we spring forward

and fall back

when trapped by darkness we strive toward the light

but there value in the darkness

it can be a gift

in the darkness we are unwrapped

and revealed

in the darkness we are vulnerable

it is no accident that our very being is roiled in the dark

thoughts racing

hearts pounding

souls aching

things happen in the dark

things begin in the dark

in the dark we are vulnerable and open

in that hidden

safe

frightening place

it was no accident that Nicodemus

came stumbling to Jesus in the dark

furtively

hiding

perhaps from himself

perhaps from others

but also ready

in the darkness, to be exposed

transformed

born again

in that place

where nothing we normally rely on means anything

in that place

where we cannot see one step in front of us

in that place

where we are hiding but revealed

in that place

we can let everything go

all our wisdom

all our perceived expertise,

our tight control of our lives

our power

our worldly status

even our tightly defined and controlled

image of God

in that place we can learn to be led

learn to be comforted

learn to be loved

in that place we can be born again

for new life starts in the dark

“Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”  (Barbara Brown Taylor)

resentment gone bad

Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear? Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain. It seems safer to embrace what we know than to let go of it for fear of the unknown.

                                                   (Narcotics Anonymous Book/page 33)

“Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.”

                                                    Ann Landers

_______________________________________________________

if there was anything Jesus taught his disciples,

it was to travel light

as he sent them forth

to “proclaim the Kingdom”

to be good news he said

“Take nothing for your journey,”

Just a staff, and sandals

That is truly packing light

Perhaps he knew

with that Sacred wisdom

that if they had possessions they would be

protective and fearful

Perhaps he knew that if they carried too much

It would slow them down

Perhaps he wanted the vulnerable and needy

people dependent

so they would be humble and not smug

people able to both reach out and receive

are something special in this world

and rare

and it is those people who can truly

with divine vulnerability

share divine love

So “travel light” Jesus insisted

So “travel light” Jesus insists

We see the problem everyday

Those people heavy laden with their possessions

Who plot and plan

Who buy Senators and Representatives?

Who worry over the stock market

and do all they can to not only hug their wealth

to their hungry souls

but gather more, and more, and more

because for them there is never enough

We see people

Clamoring for a wall

Fearful that if needy people arrive

With only sandals

And makeshift water jug

And walking stick

They might have a little less

This fearfulness is no respecter of persons

From the richest to the poorest

It can permeate souls

Your soul

My soul

All souls

So Jesus said,

Travel light

Carry only what you really need

Rely on each other

Take care of each other

Give and receive

Create community

And the Kingdom will come

____________________________________

Of course it is not just material possession that hinder us

No, there is so much more

Resentment

Fear

Anger

So……

(to be continued)

What God can do with dust

All those days

you felt like dust,

like dirt,

as if you all had to do

was turn your face

toward the wind

and be scattered

to the four corners

or swept away

by the smallest breath

as insubstantial

did you not know

what the Holy One

can do with dust?     

                     Kate Bowler  (Twitter, February 26)

__________________________________

Lent begins with ashes

With the burnt remnants of the divine image

Lent begins with regrets

And repentance

With the gross understanding that we are not what we should be

Not what we could be

we look in the mirror and feel like dirt, sometimes

we feel ragged and torn

and empty

and tired

oh so tired

of lies

of hate,

of anger,

and fear

so tired of raucous debates

and pretentious rallies

so worn down

by crashing markets

and the insidious creep of CORVID-19

we feel insubstantial

as if the next piece of bad news

the next crisis

will cause us to finally

become so fragmented

that we are as insubstantial as ashes

or dry dust

and yet

for all that

we hope

we hope against [all] hope

for we are filled with God

connected in the Spirit to Sacred

to Jesus

and “in him all things hold together” (Col. 1)

even us

we may be dust

we may have been shredded

by the vagaries of life

but we know what the Sacred can do with dust

this Power, this Love

that dwells inside us

it does marvelous things in us

and through us

as through Jesus it multiplied loaves and fishes

as it cast our demons

and healed the sick

and gave sight to the blind

and raised the dead to new life

so this Power/Love

takes the most fragmented

the most common elements

the most fragmented

the most common people

and makes them new

transforming

water into wine transforming

multiplication of loaves and fish transforming

calming the waters transforming

life out of death transforming

this Power/Love even took a cross

and made it a symbol of life

it can certainly take us

and make us Sacred Children

Ah, yes

There are days when we feel like dust

But we know what God can do

With dust

real leadership

Manipulative Leaders Create Distrust and selfishness

Transactional Leaders Create Mediocrity and complacency

Motivational Leaders Create Positivity and Action

Influential Leaders Create Growth and Empowerment

Servant-Leaders Create Authenticity and Explosive Growth

Transformational Leaders Create Change and Leave Legacies”

                                                               Farshad Asl

______________________________________________

Will live in a quid pro quo world

In a highly transactional world

I’ll do this, if you do that!

We see it everywhere

It is the only paradigm many of our leaders understand

I’ll vote for, or against this bill, if…

you will give me money (its just lobbying, not  bribe)

you will vote for me

It is the way too many relationships are run

I will give you nice things….

if you give me sex

I will not hit you….

if you do exactly what I say, and isolate yourself from all others

It is the some parents function

I will love you and be proud of you if…

you get good grades, or do well in sports, or….

It is the way companies work

I will let you keep your job if….

you work 60 hours a week and agree to be underpaid

you all know what I am talking about

you have probably been a victim of quid pro quo

you might have played this game with others

something bad happens

when everything becomes transaction

important things can be lost

generosity can be lost

kindness can be lost

forgiveness can be lost

Today I read as someone suggested

the pandemic might be a good thing

Why?

Because it would “cull” those people

who in a highly transaction world, don’t have worth

with a little luck, this person insisted

it would kill those who from a transaction position

have little to offer

You know, the disabled

The mentally ill

The people who are homeless

Those who need some sort of aid

The old

The infirm

If those people died, it was suggested,

we could use all the money we currently spend helping them

we could use those nursing homes for “something useful”,

to help those who are valuable

those with “more to offer”

Wow!  Just wow!

To hear someone actually say out loud

They think there are too many people, and the answer is "culling"

Just allowing the poor,

the homeless,

the terminally ill,

the elderly in rest homes,

the "drains on society" to die

or actively be removed…..

As to access to health care?

Well, "medical debt is your own problem –

if you can't afford to live, then don't."

So pandemic, bring it on

The fit will live

The unfit will die

No big deal

A benefit, really!

And it occurred to me, that as bad as this is

What may be worse, is that the religion that calls itself Christian

Has made God a quid pro quo

Transactional deity

“Follow my laws

Accept Jesus

Say the right formula

Believe the right thing about the Bible

And I will give you heaven

Don’t do what I ask, and you will be tormented for eternity”

Faith has become a transaction

not a love affair

I can’t help thinking about the words for love in the Bible

Two of them are conditional, transactional

Eros, the love that happens when there is “chemistry”

when hormones decide to dance

If you are beautiful and you turn me on, I will love you.

Phileo, the love that comes when one has common values

Interests, priorities

If you support my ideology, my political views

We can be friends

But then there is agape

God’s love

What is agape all about?

As I read it, agape is love without demand

Love without conditions

Agape doesn’t love the other because they have value

Agape love creates value in the one loved

Agape love is about

Acceptance

Kindness

Inclusion

Forgiveness

Generosity

It is all those things, lived out

If we want to know what agape love we need only look to Jesus

We need only read (listen to) Jesus’ words

We need only look at how he treated the poor and the outcasts,

The “little ones” of the world

Love your enemies

Do good to those who harm you

Give to the needy

Expect nothing in return

If we want to look at agape love

All we have to do is look at he cross

Where Love was given

Where it was clearly not deserved

Where forgiveness was offered to those who harmed

Where acceptance was given to those who had erred

Where peace and love (instead of retribution) were offered to those who killed

Where evil was overcome with good (love)

Jesus proved God is not transactional

God does not function according to quid pro quo

God is love

God loves

And God creates lovers

Which is of course

A different way of doing life

A better way of doing life

A much

Better

way

don't be an asshole for Jesus

Those who follow Jesus should attract the same people Jesus attracted and frustrate the same people Jesus frustrated.

                                                   Shane Claiborne, Twitter, Dec 18, 2015

_____________________________________

today

as most every day lately

has been defeating

don’t get me wrong

it is not that politicians are acting like assholes

I expect that

It is not that conservatives are being massively hypocritical

accusing their opponents of being

fundamentally

them

I expect that too

It is not that Trump continues to destroy our form of government

with his malignant narcissism

and his abuse of power

it is who he is

It is not the coronavirus

it is not corruption in high places

it is not yet another shooting

it is not the stock market tumbling

it is not my local LGBTQI community being treated poorly

it is the fact

that Jesus demanded we afflict the comfortable

and comfort the afflicted

and too many of us don’t

it is the fact that Jesus came to

show us the way

and we ignore him.

This week as we enter into Lent

The story of Adam and Eve is placed before us

Snake

Apple

Fake news

And all

The story is there

With its temptation

To “be like God”

They chose to go against the way of the Sacred

To grab hold of power

And use it

We know how that turned out

And the temptations of Jesus are placed before us

Same story

Same basic temptation

Different setting

Different outcome

No lush garden this time

Just rocks and dirt

Angels and wolves (He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him)

the holy and the wild

and he is tempted to grab power

to use power

to abuse power

to get his way

to thrill the adoring crowds

to reach his goal

to rule the earth

he has a choice

he chooses for all it radical impracticality

for all its danger

the way of sacrifice

and service

the way of acceptance

and forgiveness

the way of love

the way of the cross

it was all decided

there

during that 40 day

in the middle of the barren rocks

Temptation is about choice

A choice to go with the way of God, and now, the way of Jesus

Or go the way of the world. 

Sometimes we go the way of the world unabashedly

Grabbing power

Using power

Abusing power

Seeking wealth

Sometimes we go the way of the world,

while thinking, we are going the way of the sacred.

Seduced the way Adam and Eve were

By what looks and sounds good

But isn’t

And sometimes, we choose “the way”

Sometimes

Sometimes we choose service rather than domination

And generosity rather that accumulation

So here is the question the story of Jesus in the wilderness raises for me

How do we respond to the lure of power?

How do we respond to the lure of wealth?

Do we commune with angels

Or do we do succumb to the wolves,

Do we become people of kindness

or people of cruelty?

People of generosity

Or people who hug things to ourselves

Unable to share

Unable to see the needs and the pain of others?

The choice is ours

a messy God

"Let's hold hands

and get drunk

near the sun

And sing sweet songs

to God

Until He joins us

with a few notes

From His own

sublime lute and drum. "

                                Hafiz

____________________________

there is an old joke

about a couple sent to meet a ministerial candidate at the airport

they had no clue what he looked like

so they guessed

that the rumpled, gray

and dour man emerging from the plane

must be their person

“are you the pastoral candidate?”

they queried?

“No, it’s just my ulcer that makes me look this way”

  

Algernon Charles Swinburne caught this same reality

when he wrote

in one of his poems

“Thou has conquered O pale Galilean

And the world has grown grey with thy breath”

where does this come from

this morose and gloomy faith

that seems to create

shriveled souls

instead of fat souls?

this faith that seems to drain people

not only of joy

but of compassion

and welcome

generosity

and love?

perhaps the problem

is that too many have a stern

and unyielding God

who would rather burn “them” in eternal torment

that welcome the sinner to the table

perhaps the problem

is that we have created a God

of privilege, and exceptionalism

a biased God

who rains retribution on all but the elect

perhaps what we need is a God

who joins in the messy mix

who come into our midst

into our hearts

into our souls

and joins in the joyful party

singing a bit of karaoke

a God who is with us

and for us

where we are

ready to lift us up

and join in the dance of grace

keep moving

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

                                                   Martin Luther King Jr.

_______________________________________

they sat together

two people

not so old

not so very young

holding hands

and staring

blankly

at the food in front of them

the restaurant was noisy

but not so noisy we could not hear

her gasp of breath

her sob

her partner concern etched

leaned toward her

and her voice cut through the murmur of voices

the sound of silverware

and the clatter of plates

“I just can’t do it anymore”

“I just can’t do life’

How many people

Have come to that place

Where they are no longer sure they can keep moving forward

some of them talk to me

as a pastor

some of them talk to me

as a mental health counselor

some of them have no one to talk to

or simply can’t

They aren’t flying

Or running

Or walking

Or even crawling

They are face down in the mud

Illness has come, and they have no insurance

A child has died of cancer

They care about justice, and see justice slowly die

They are concerned about the poor, but watch the rich plunder

They ache for the immigrants, and see them herded into camps

children lost

houses lost

health lost

love lost

hope lost

faith lost

the statistics are grim

with the rate of completed suicides

rising 30% since 2000

and 10% of that increase coming in the last three years

people are stunned by the greed

the corruption and dishonesty

they are frightened by looming authoritarianism

and the deterioration of the planet

climate change

mass shootings

injustice

it is all too much

and yet

the world needs those

with soft hearts

those who will feel the pain of the world

the world needs those who see

the ills of the world

and care

the world needs these precious souls

to keep moving forward

to keep caring

keep giving

keep feeling

keep loving

keep living

there are times

for all of us

when it is hard to even crawl

those times when battered

we feel like there is no hope

when it feel like the abusers in power

will keep abusing

and the corrupt will wallow in wealth

and it is then

that we must go to the Center

to that place where the breath of God

fills us

Spiritus

Pneuma

we most go in

centering

in prayer

in meditation

seeking God,

opening

waiting

for enough breath

to take another step

or to crawl

just a little further

when I go to the center

so often

the words of Isaiah echo

and comfort

“those that wait upon the Lord

 Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength

 Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength and…..

 They will soar on wings like eagles;

 they will run and not grow weary,

 they will walk and not be faint.”  (Isaiah 40)

Let us wait upon the Lord

and keep moving

and never, ever,

quit

keep moving

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

                                                   Martin Luther King Jr.

_______________________________________

they sat together

two people

not so old

not so very young

holding hands

and staring

blankly

at the food in front of them

the restaurant was noisy

but not so noisy we could not hear

her gasp of breath

her sob

her partner concern etched

leaned toward her

and her voice cut through the murmur of voices

the sound of silverware

and the clatter of plates

“I just can’t do it anymore”

“I just can’t do life’

How many people

Have come to that place

Where they are no longer sure they can keep moving forward

some of them talk to me

as a pastor

some of them talk to me

as a mental health counselor

some of them have no one to talk to

or simply can’t

They aren’t flying

Or running

Or walking

Or even crawling

They are face down in the mud

Illness has come, and they have no insurance

A child has died of cancer

They care about justice, and see justice slowly die

They are concerned about the poor, but watch the rich plunder

They ache for the immigrants, and see them herded into camps

children lost

houses lost

health lost

love lost

hope lost

faith lost

the statistics are grim

with the rate of completed suicides

rising 30% since 2000

and 10% of that increase coming in the last three years

people are stunned by the greed

the corruption and dishonesty

they are frightened by looming authoritarianism

and the deterioration of the planet

climate change

mass shootings

injustice

it is all too much

and yet

the world needs those

with soft hearts

those who will feel the pain of the world

the world needs those who see

the ills of the world

and care

the world needs these precious souls

to keep moving forward

to keep caring

keep giving

keep feeling

keep loving

keep living

there are times

for all of us

when it is hard to even crawl

those times when battered

we feel like there is no hope

when it feel like the abusers in power

will keep abusing

and the corrupt will wallow in wealth

and it is then

that we must go to the Center

to that place where the breath of God

fills us

Spiritus

Pneuma

we most go in

centering

in prayer

in meditation

seeking God,

opening

waiting

for enough breath

to take another step

or to crawl

just a little further

when I go to the center

so often

the words of Isaiah echo

and comfort

“those that wait upon the Lord

 Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength

 Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength and…..

 They will soar on wings like eagles;

 they will run and not grow weary,

 they will walk and not be faint.”  (Isaiah 40)

Let us wait upon the Lord

and keep moving

and never, ever,

quit