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