Get over yourself

when I was a sophomore in college

I wore a deep track to the registrar’s office

to change majors

 

I had started out pre-med

seeking to follow in the footsteps of my father

an amazing physician and surgeon

a true healer

 

but then I hit chemistry,

and realized I was not a scientist

and my gifts lay elsewhere

 

I tried on history, political science, and sociology

eventually moving to philosophy, adding in literature

and later theology and psychology

 

I obviously didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up

and in the midst of this mess, the Beatles broke up

 

they had been a part of my life starting in Junior High,

all the way through High School, and into the tough early years of college

 

and then they were gone

leaving behind one last album, “Let it Be”

 

and on that album was a song,  “I, Me, Mine”

 

All through the day

I me mine, I me mine, I me mine

All through the night

I me mine, I me mine, I me mine

Now they're frightened of leaving it

Everyone's weaving it

Coming on strong all the time

All through the day

I me mine

 

This was not an anthem for toxic individualism

quite the opposite

 

instead George Harrison was actually rejecting individualism –

believing that a focus on what "I" have,

on those things which belong to "me",

which are "mine" –

 

prevents us being fully realized

 

it was a song about the danger of being wrapped up in ego

 

this was a cornerstone of Indian philosophy

it is also, I believe, the cornerstone of Jesus teachings

 

after all, Jesus did say this

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

 

we can talk a lot about what is wrong with the world right now

about what is wrong with the United States of America

about what is wrong with the so called “church”

about what is wrong with “us”

 

but I think it comes down to this

individualism

 

people are radically attached to “their rights”

violently attached

 

to the right to carry a gun

to not wear a mask

 

to the point, paradoxically that

“my rights”

become the right to impose

one’s agenda, beliefs, and ideology

on others

 

Richard Rohr talks about the Cosmic Egg

and suggests that for all of us there are three stories

 

there is my story, where it is all about me

where I seek significance through power, possessions and privilege

when on is  wrapped up in “my story”

the plea to wear masks for others become tyranny

 

then there is “our story”, the story of the tribe

the world of groupthink, nationalism, tribalism

 

if my story is about egocentricity

our story is about group egocentricity

and it is even more dangerous

 

a nation with the disease of toxic individualism can do much more damage

than a single person with the same issue

 

which leads to “the story”

which is the story told by Jesus

the story lived by Jesus

 

the story of inclusion, sacrifice, generosity

the story of “all”

where all are loved, all are treated justly

all are valued

 

and where we are willing to give up some of what we have

that all might have enough

 

that mentality where, as we wander down the road of life

our time is spent not fighting our own way to success and comfort

but is spent picking others up,

working as hard as we can

 

to make sure we all get there, together

 

in this time of toxic individualism, the verse that guides me

the concept that drives me

and that has become my “anthem” for 2021 is this

 

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.  Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,  (Phil. 2:1-5)

 

Its time we get over ourselves!

 

(note:  yes, I know the dangers of not having “boundaries”, and there is a point where being for others becomes enabling and co-dependence and toxic in its own right)

Do what matters

woke up with my head buzzing

a cacophony of thoughts

whirling through my brain

 

what day is it?

what do I have to do?

what have I forgotten to do?

 

I had the most profound sense of dis-ease

as if my soul were being assaulted

 

I did not notice happy dog, nuzzling my hand

or the misty beauty of a snow morning

I did not feel at home in my body

I did not greet the new day

with joy

 

what have we done to ourselves?

we people who delve in the book of faces

and tweet on twitter

and jump to our inboxes the moment we awake

 

this is, as Thomas Merton suggests

“innate violence”  (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander)

 

we allow our schedules

our jobs

we allow the shoulds, oughts, and musts

we allow our brains to bully us

 

this is spiritual violence

as we allow ourselves to

be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns,

to surrender to too many demands,

to commit [ourselves] to too many projects

to want to help everyone in everything…”  (Merton)

 

as we over connect with the world

we lose our connection to the world

 

we no longer see the sky

hear the birds

smell the roses

feel the warmth of the sun,

or the crisp coldness of the snow

 

we rush, and rush, and rush

leaving our souls neglected

 

“Ah” we cry, “but there is so much to be done!”

 

indeed

 

but flailing away blindly at the problems of the world

is no way to live a life

and no way to truly change anything

 

paradoxically we must start our striving

by stopping our striving

 

we must go inside, to where the energy of God lives

and sit in Sacred space

 

that is when things start to happen

that is when the Sacred suddenly appears

 

and that is when we are moved by Sacred Energy

to the places we need to god

 

and that is when we understand, finally

the things we need to do

 

and can set the frantic busyness of this world

and our need to perform (in order to have value)

aside

 

and become human beings

and find ease (instead of dis-ease)

 

and do what matters

the mystical eye

In the sense of theology that liberates, the soul that is united with God sees the world with God’s eyes. That soul, like God, sees what otherwise is rendered invisible and irrelevant. It hears the whimpering of starving children and does not let itself be diverted from real misery, becoming one with God in perceiving and understanding as well as in acting. For people in the slums, redemption does not consist of some great and far removed actor ending the misery of the oppressed. Rather, in coming so very close, that far-near one acts in and through those who have become one with that actor. In liberating movements, the mystical eye sees God at work: seeing, hearing, acting, even in forms that are utterly secular. In the contingency of literacy programs or collaboration in building a school, God’s action is manifest. It is a mysticism of wide-open eyes. . . .

          Dorothee Sölle, The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance,

          trans. Barbara and Martin Rumscheidt (Fortress Press: 2001), 283

          Quoted by Richard Rohr, Daily Meditations, 1/22/21

___________________________________________

 

go deep the wise ones tell us

go deep into your own self

into that place where Sacred dwells

into that place that defines who you are

 

go deep into that quiet place

where, amidst the cacophony of the world

you can hear the “still small voice” of God

 

stop!

breathe!

be in the moment!

 

notice what you are thinking

accept what you are feeling

 

be

be with your own self

be with God

 

and in that being

be transformed by the renewing of your mind

let go of everything

and go where the Sacred takes you

 

as Jonah had to let go of his fear (perhaps)

and later his resentment

and accept the guidance of God

and the loving-kindness of God

 

as Peter and Andrew and James and John

had to let go of their nets

and their security

an go with Jesus

to be people of The Way

 

every great belief system holds this truth

close to its core

every great faith system has its mystical side

that says good deep

encounter Sacred

let go

and go

 

some believe that such work

is a form of retreat from the world

 

but the reality is much different

the more we are united with God

the more we are connected to the Sacred

as branches to the vine

 

the more our eyes, and ears

and hearts

are opened

 

being intimate with God (and with ourselves – perhaps for the first time)

we are more sensitive

not only to what is going on inside us

but to what is going on around us

 

paradoxically we do not separate from the world

but we enter into the world more completely

 

we enter into the pain, the misery

we enter into the joy, the hope

 

we see the hungry

we see “the whimpering of starving children”

we see the inequity, the injustice

the racism

the hate

the love

the compassion

 

we see it all

and we enter it all

heart, soul, mind and strength

 

we see it, hear it, feel it

and in the power of the Spirit

we respond

 

we see to feed the hungry, clothe the naked

comfort the afflicted

fight for justice

 

this is true mysticism

it is “the mysticism of wide open eyes”

 

the world needs more mystics

 

can I get an “Amen”?

 

move on

Brendan, the Irish saint

is said to have asked God

as he and his intrepid band traveled in their coracle

seeking the “Promised Land of the Saints”

 

“How will I know what I seek?”

 

how many of us travel through life

like those brave monks

who journeyed across chaotic seas

 

facing many a danger

and finding many a land 

 

wondering

“will I ever get there?”

and “will know it when I find it”

 

how many of us go through life

somewhat homesick

 

feeling uprooted

as if we have left our place of origin

but not quite she if we have landed where we were meant to be

or even if we are headed the right direction?

 

it seems to be the almost permanent condition of God’s people

to be “on the way” to the promised land

and to be wandering

 

it is as if there is no straight path

 

there was no straight path of Abraham

nor for Isaac, or Jacob

nor for Joseph, and later Moses

and Aaron

 

Samuel did his wandering

and Saul too

and David walked many a crooked mile

 

there is blessing in the wandering

in the uncertainty

there are gifts to be found

along the way

 

and there is something powerful in the question

“How will I know what I seek?”

 

How indeed

How will we know we are on the right road?

How will we know the place we are meant to be, when we find it?

And when we find it?  Then what?

 

Do we get to camp?  To settle?

or do we get to appreciate this land of promise,

taste the fruit, wander in the shade,

only for a moment

 

before we are called to move on,

higher up,

deeper in?

 

and do we leave the place we have lingered

better than it was before

before we move on?

do we leave better people?

 

people journey

nations journey

perhaps even faith systems journey

 

blown by the wind of God

across sometimes violent and dangerous seas

 

let us always be those who seek the promise

let us always ask the question

let us always move toward the promise

not looking back

 

but pressing forward

toward the promise

of hope

of joy

of peace

of love

 

 

The answer (is blowing in the wind)

When I taught at a medical school

I did a lot of work related to the interface of health and spirituality

 

Even wrote and published a book about it

 

All of us working on this issue at the time (1990’s)

Realized that it was important to allow people to bring their spiritual resources

to bear on their illness

 

that health was not just physical

but emotional, mental and spiritual

 

only if all facets of the person were engaged could a person

truly move from dis-ease to ease

 

one of the things we looked at was how to assess the importance of faith

to the patients

 

and one of the tools we use was HOPE

a series of four questions

 

“What are your sources of HOPE, strength, comfort, meaning and peace?”

“Is Organized religion important to you?

“Do you have Personal spiritual practices?” (Like meditation)

And

“How would you like your spirituality to Effect your healthcare?”

 

We also used FICA

“Do your have a Faith system”

“Is it Important to you?”

“Are you part of a faith Community?”

“How would you like your provider to Address these issues in your health care?”

 

 

I remember, during one of the presentations we made

someone suggested it was important that we ask people how

important their spiritual lives were to them

 

And then it hit me

Spiritual Lives?

What other kind of lives are there?

 

Which is of course why what we were doing was so important

We are spiritual beings.

 

As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin famously put it,

 

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience

 

we are spiritual beings

and all of life is spiritual

 

our personal lives

our work lives

our family / relational lives

our political lives

our outer lives

our inner lives

 

everything is spiritual

which means everything we do

everything we say

the way we do our jobs

the way we vote

the people and policies we support

are all spiritual practices

 

and everything we do or say

should flow out of our spirituality - which means they should all flow

out of our living connection with the Sacred

 

yeah

we are in the world

part of the dust and dirt

we just bones and flesh and blood

but we’ve been breathed into by the pneuma

the breath of the Sacred

 

we have been enlivened (Ezekiel)

 

and so everything we do is Sacred

everything

every breath we take

every word we speak

every vote we cast

every move we make

 

what does it mean in this time

to be spiritual?

What difference does it make in how we see ourselves?

In the choices we make?

In what is important to us?

 

I don’t think there is a clean answer

I think the answer is blowing in the wind

In the wind of the Spirit as it blows through us

 

the answer comes, moment by moment

as the Spirit moves in us, and through

as in each moment

as the Spirit prays for us

Informs us

and comforts us

 

for after all

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience

 

and when the Spirit

is blowing through our soul

newness happens

 

or as John O’Donohue suggests

“When love awakens in your life, in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn… 

 When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning.”

(Anam Cara)

Hypocrites all

“One thing you can't hide - is when you're crippled inside.”

                     John Lennon

 

____________________________

 

I’m a hypocrite

You’re a hypocrite

She’s a hypocrite, he’s a hypocrite

Wouldn’t you like to be a hypocrite too!?

 

I starting thinking the other day

about how in the morning I can write about loving my enemy

and then a few hours later

pummel someone verbal on Facebook

 

about how I can talk about generosity in one breath

and about joyful giving

and the pour over my finances, determined to increase my net worth

the next

 

It hit me just how often my words and actions do not line up

 

How about you?

 

It is not that I intentionally say what is false

It is not that I am pretending to be something I am not

It is not that don’t try to live up to my words

To practice what I preach

 

It is simply that all too often

If find myself violating my own intentions

My own values

 

I have a great deal of sympathy for Paul

Who wrote in Romans 7

 

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.

 

It appears Paul was a hypocrite too?!

 

At least he was my kind of hypocrite

 

Here is too all of us who try and fail

 

I know there are those who are intentional

I know there are those who are blind to their own duplicity

I know there are Those who talk love, act hatefully, and don’t even see it

 

There are hypocrites and then there are hypocrites

 

I am talking here about those of us who

Try and fail

And know we fail

Who are pained by that failure

Who, hopefully admit that failure

 

Those who confess, and repent

 

And then

Seek to connect with Sacred in such a way that

we become new,

transformed

 

this isn’t a matter of trying harder

trying harder won’t get us there

we will always fail

ask Paul

 

This is a matter of being permeated by love

Filled with living water

Lifted up by the wind of the Spirit

 

This is us being transformed by the renewing of our minds

and the cleansing of our hearts

 

so that we move ever closer

to doing what we want to do

and being who we want to be

 

children of God

Seeing the best

they swirl around us

like snowflakes in a blizzard

relentless, thick

 

enfolding us complete so that we can barely

see

where we are going

 

all those stories

all those “facts”

all those rumors

 

all those pieces of news

some real, some manufactured

 

about this group or that group

this person or that person

 

did you hear!?

according to the FBI!

the President said!

 

we are presented each day with a plethora

of information

and we must sort through it all

trying to discern truth from falsehood,

struggling with how to respond

 

sometimes it seems as if the choice is between

falsehood and truth

and it is

 

but I think it goes deeper than that

 

obviously we all see the world through our own lenses

our perceptions are all altered by

a myriad of factors

 

our ideology

our faith system

our culture, our race, our gender, our sexual orientation

our education level, our training

 

and also by things such as trauma

our life experiences

 

but I have noticed something lately

in myself, but not just in myself

 

I have noticed a tendency to believe the worst

of those who are not in my “tribe”

and sometimes even of those who are

 

this last weekend announcements came out

perhaps from the FBI (I was never quite sure where the new came from… “sources”)

that “liberal” churches were in danger from “them”

 

it may have been true

perhaps there was chatter somewhere about

“attacking those libs”

 

but I was amazed at the fervor with which those

in the more liberal churches embraced the idea that “they”

those “deplorables” were going to commit violence against them

 

I know there are churches, and church leaders, who have had to live

With the threat of violence.  Churches that embrace LGBTQI members

Churches that have had the audacity to hang up a BLM banner

I get that the danger is, actually, real

 

But still, there was something unsettling with the ease in which

we jumped to the ‘demonization’ of others

how quickly we “believed the worst”

 

I have been on the other side of that human tendency

When people have been quick to believe the worst of me

Have without hesitation given the worst possible interpretation to

my words or my behavior

 

I suspect you have been too

And I have, at times, been that person

who believed the worst

 

And now we live in this polarized world

With angry and even violent polarity

 

And it is even easier to demonize others

After all

The proof is out there!

 

The lies are out there

The violence is real

The assault on the capitol happened

 

We’ve seen “them” with their guns

and their flags

we have read their posts

 

but

 

there is something that tells me

that this is the pathway to destruction

 

I am not calling for us to be “naïve”

or maybe I am

perhaps there is a kind of holy naiveté

 

Jesus was not naïve

He saw people who who they were

But he also saw them for who and what they could become

 

He saw that creepy tax collector

but he also saw a child of God, capable of honesty and generosity

 

what if

what if we asked the Holy Spirit to give us eyes

that see the Sacred in each other

that see the potential, the possibilities

the best

in each other

 

not the worst?

 

And what if we responded to others

Accordingly

 

I know there is risk.  There are the predators

There are the narcissists, the pathological

There are those so badly damaged

 

We do need to be careful, and we do need boundaries

But what if our default was NOT to believe the worst, but the best?

 

how would our relationships change?

how would our lives change?

how would the world change?

 

It’s something worth thinking about

As we enter a week filled with division and rancor

 

It is something worth thinking about

Even as right wing evangelicals suggest

We can’t “preach the cross if we only see the good” (simplybible.com)

 

It does seem radical, and dangerous

And naïve

But still

 

It seems so Jesus

 

Matthew 5 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

No one ever said the way of “The Lamb” was easy

we have the power

Never underestimate the impact of a small kindness...

or a [small] cruelty.

                     Pat LaMarche

____________________________

 

it was a small thing really

in the economy of the world

 

not a big gesture

at all

 

just a worn piece of bronze

a little lepton

leaving the hand of that poor widow,

faintly pinging in the mite box  (Luke 21)

 

a small gift of love

from a big heart *

 

sometimes it is the small things

that make the difference

that reveal the soul

 

small kindnesses

small cruelties

 

small cruelties

reveal small hearts, small souls

 

those little slights

those casual rejections

those demeaning labels

that tear at the fragile and the vulnerable

 

we see the casual cruelty of Trump mocking a disabled reporter

we read the small cruelties that flow from twitter and Facebook

we watch the children with a disability mocked

and people who are vulnerable minimized and oppressed

in so many little ways     

 

little ways that when added up become terrifying

 

and sometimes, even destroy

as young people (and older one’s too)

after too many small cruelties

decide that they are worthless, and life is not for them

 

we live in a culture that has monetized

and rewarded cruelty

(think Parler, Twitter, FB and more)

 

but as small cruelties add up

so do small kindnesses

 

a quick smile

a kind word

an small act of compassion

an affirmation

 

can not only change a day, but a life

 

We must never underestimate our power to do ill

Nor must we underestimate our power to do good

 

So let us make kindness

A way of life

you

someone loves you

All I wish

Is for you

To one day

Love you

The way

I do

                     Atticus, The Truth About Magic, St. Martin’s Griffin, p.37

______________________________

 

what makes me

so insecure?

 

what drives me, day in and day

to have to prove myself

as a pastor,

a therapist,

a leader,

a man?

 

heck!

why do I have to prove that I am a valuable human being?

 

what makes me worry so much about how people see me?

why do I need so much affirmation?

why do I so often slip in the gooey realm of “not enough”?

 

and before you assure me that I am OK,

let me assure you

that I probably won’t really hear you

 

I’ll be grateful for the affirmation

but it won’t penetrate

 

and let me remind you

that this is not just me

this is also you

 

how few of us

really feel valuable

 

I suspect that even those who seem most assured

have, inside, the same raging doubts

 

what goes on inside that bombastic person

who struts and brags?

often the same thing that goes on inside that retiring person

who hides and is silent!

 

we all react to our sense of deficit differently

I became an overachiever

Some become angry

Some bully (think Trump)

Some hide

 

but for all of us

however we got there

trauma, parental expectations,

failure,

 

there is a common need

to know that someone values us, respects us

loves us

 

not because of what we have done

how we look

not even because of who we are

 

but simply because of the fact that we are

 

where does such love and affirmation come from?

 

Sometimes mothers or fathers

Sometimes siblings

Or friends

 

but always

from the Beloved

 

if we understand God correctly

that Sacred Power that is behind all

and is Love

 

we know we are loved

we know we have value

 

and in the midst of those times

when we wonder why we are here

and lament our failures

and struggle with the mess that is the world

 

that Love is there

nestled inside us (if we will but look)

inside me, inside you,

inside each one of us, even the most damaged of us

 

whispering, imploring

reminding

 

Child of God, Child of God, Child of God

All I wish

Is for you

To one day

Love you

The way

I do

I am bleeding hope

May you be blessed with a wise and compassionate guide

Who can accompany you through the fear and grief

Until your heart has wept its way to your true self.

 

As your tears fall over that wounded place,

May they wash away your hurt and free your heart.

May your forgiveness still the hunger of the wound

 

So that for the first time you can walk away from that place,

Reunited with your banished heart, now healed and freed,

And feel the clear, free air bless your new face.”

                     John O'Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

________________________________

 

I am bleeding

My heart is torn, my soul is shredded

And I am bleeding

 

Love

and hope

 

but worse, I am bleeding anger and perhaps

dare I say it

even hate

 

this “blood” pours from wounds created by lies

created by betrayal

and intransigence

 

and it drains me

 

I do not know what to do with these wounds

with this pain

 

wise voices whisper forgive

love

“overcome evil with good

 

I hear the words of Jesus echo from the brutality of the cross

“forgive them’

 

But the abusers still abuse

and those who have so grievously wounded

a planet

a nation

a woman, a man

a child

 

want me to forgive and forget

to smile and pretend

it never happened

 

or it wasn’t that bad

 

what do I do with this lack of repentance?

with the lack of regret,

with the behaviors that simply

continue,

and continue,

and continue?

 

what do I do with those who continue to harm,

to oppress,

to abuse?

 

I long to forgive

My heart’s desire is unity

I yearn for reconciliation

 

as one reconciled to Sacred

and (at least somewhat) reconciled to myself

I have been given “the ministry of reconciliation”

 

But can reconciliation happen,

can we find our way back together,

with just forgiveness?

 

Or can forgiveness become license?

Can it become enabling?

Can forgiveness and accountability go together?

 

Is forgiveness without accountability

Really forgiveness?

 

I believe we live in a time of hate when we are called to love

But perhaps we also live in a time of injustice when we are called to demand justice

 

If we demand justice but do not love we are, perhaps, cruel

But if we seek to love but do not demand justice, we are enablers of injustice

 

this is the dilemma

how do we fight for justice with love

when there are those who take love for weakness?

who will continue to do what they do, and go further and further

who will continue to wound, and even kill

until (literally) stopped?!

 

Love empowers forgiveness

It also empowers justice

 

for me in my humanness

how do I, like Jesus, bring the two together

to create reconciliation?

 

Ah Sacred!

This is beyond me

 

may You be

“a wise and compassionate guide

Who can accompany [me] through the fear and grief’

 

May You teach me the way

to overcome evil with good

 

But Lord

the abuse

(political, social, sexual, physical, psychological, spiritual)

has to stop

the story

We were all born to live

born to love

millions of years

perfecting the part of it,

and yet still,

somehow,

it comes to unnaturally

to most of us.

                     Atticus, The Truth About Magic,, St. Martins Griffin, p.21

_________________________

 

each day we watch

as the human story unfolds

 

and all too often, our hearts hurt

for that story is one of tribalism, domination, and greed

 

a story of strife and striving

with the human animal warring against

nature

and warring against one another

 

who will have the most power?

who will accumulate the most mammon?

 

this narrative is one of violence

filled with wars and rumors of wars

 

and if we have not become numb

our hearts are rended

as the story unfolds

 

and yet

another narrative exists

the intrusive narrative of Love

 

it is the original narrative, the creation narrative

this other way

 

and while this story has been muted

at times

it is still The Story

 

Word

Logos

 

that has been from the beginning and will not

be silenced

but will be told, and will be lived

 

it is a narrative of love

the story of paradise found

 

of the human creature finding again

original blessing

and sharing once again in the unfolding

song of creation

 

it is the story woven into the song God

sang when chaos became order

it is the story lived and taught by Jesus

 

it a story of blessedness

where the poor gain the kingdom

and the hungry are fed

and the mournful once again laugh

 

A story of justice and equity

of truth and wisdom and kindness,

of love

 

we will need help

this narrative is a difficult one to tell

amidst the cacophony of narratives

humans tell

 

we will need the Word

to shape our words

 

we will need the Sacred

to live our words

 

it is our story

if we will tell it

it is our story

if we will live it

 

it is a story that must be told

_____________________________________

 

Christ came singing love

Christ lived singing love

Christ died singing love

If the song is to go on, we must do the singing

                     Words used by New Freedom Singers,

                     Whitman College, 1970’s

                     Original source unknown by me

 

walk in the darkness

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

                     John 1:5

_______________________________

 

the darkness is profound

this deep darkness of hate and fear

that blinds and leaves us groping

 

fearful we freeze, and cower

waiting, hoping for a glimmer of light

 

anxious we flail

striking out in the darkness

at whatever is out there, lurking, plotting

 

but we can learn to walk in the darkness*

 

in the darkness our world narrows down

our senses awake

small things become large

the sound of a pin dropping echoes in the night

 

the darkness is a time for learning

as the darkness of the world

the darkness of our souls

pulls all things in

to that black space

 

leaving us straining to see

to hear

to make sense of it

 

this dark night is a time for reflection

a time to breathe

a time to notice

the distractions gone

 

a time to hear the still small voice

 

what do we hear in this darkness?

what truths begin to emerge as our eyes

now wide open

begin to see? (if only vaguely)

 

and Whose hand do we find

to cling to

in the night?

 

Ah, I hate this darkness

as mobs assail

as politicians provocate and vacillate

as people threaten violence and death

the uprooting of all

revolution

 

as all those things we have come to rely on

crumble and erode

 

I love this darkness

as I am forced to look keenly

listen carefully

 

as I am driven into the deep dark places of my soul

where in the darkness I am met

and held

 

by Love

 

lift your voice

“...and when the world tells you to lower your head and submit in silence to how things are and always will be, lift your voice instead and sing bravely of how things can and should and will be, because that song is why you are here.”

― L.R. Knost

________________________________

 

Sometimes it seems as if

“its just the way it is”

 

We watched stunned

As lies are accepted as truth

As alternate realities are believed and embraced

As hate flourishes

As people work against their own best interests

 

We watch the rule of law bent and broken by those who tout

The rule of law

 

We read people words, dragged into the light from

Parler and other dark places

About violence and disruption

About “the storm”

 

We stand, almost in awe

Our mouths open

But silent

 

And in the silence it feels as if our souls are leaving our bodies

We feel empty and helpless

We have done what we can

We have spoken the truth

 

And

It is what it is

Nothing changes

Children are still in cages

Children still die

The poor are still shame

The rich still wallow in affluence and privilege

The literalist legalists still violate the Bible

Fascism still flourishes

People still do not wear masks and people still die

 

It is what it is

 

And yet

We remember the prophets

We remember John the Baptist

And Jesus

And Paul

And Dietrich Bonhoeffer

And Martin Luther King Jr

And Desmond Tutu

And Nelson Mandela

And Dag Hammarskjold

 

A we hear the words of the palmist echo in our hearts

Sing to the Lord a new song (Psalm 96)

And we remember the proclamation of God through Isaiah

“Behold I am doing a New Thing, can you not see it?”

 

And sometimes we say “no”

I can’t see it

And sometimes the song gets stuck in our throat

 

But still we are called

Called

Called

 

To lift up our hearts

And life up our heads

And sing justice

Sing forgiveness

Sing acceptance

Sing Hope

Sing Peace

Sing Truth

 

Sing love

 

We are to “lift [our] voice instead and sing bravely of how things can and should and will be, because that song is why [we] are here.”

hearts set free

A human being is a spatially and temporally limited piece of the whole, what we call the “Universe.” He experiences himself and his feelings as separate from the rest, an optical illusion of his consciousness. The quest for liberation from this bondage is the only object of true religion. Not nurturing the illusion but only overcoming it gives us the attainable measure of inner peace.

                     Albert Einstein (a translation from the original German

 

Note:  This statement has been altered many times and misquoted. 

___________________________

 

it seems we have a choice

“how then shall I now live?”

 

how shall I live in this world

with its love of domination?

how shall I live in a society

that does not value all people the same?

how shall I live in an economy in which profit

is more important than people?

 

how shall I live?

 

how shall I live if I take seriously

that I carry the Sacred within me?

how shall I live if I take seriously that each person I meet

no matter their color

or social status

or education level

or title

or affluence

also carries the Sacred within them, and is a Sacred Child

 

how shall I live?

 

while sitting in that stark and unhospitable land of temptation

Jesus was given a choice

the choice to follow the way of power and domination

or the choice to follow the long, complex, messy path to the cross

 

the Jesus path is messy, and complex, and difficult

and there are many ways to think about

the choices

 

that takes us down the path

or off the path

 

do we choose dominance or servanthood

generosity of accumulation

inclusion or exclusion

merit or grace

 

but in the end there is only one choice

will I remain an encapsulated ego

a person wrapped up in myself

(can you spell toxic individualism)

 

or will I be a person who sees him or herself

as a part of a community

not a small community

not a tribe

 

but a really big community

the community of human kind

 

and will I make choices that benefit the community

not just me

the community as well as me

 

Thank you Albert

for understanding better than most of us Christians

what Christianity is all about

what it means to have a heart set free

 

our faith should indeed liberate us

to be people for others

people notice others, connect with others

and insist

 

that as we walk down life’s twisted and dangerous pathway

we do it, together

and we get all get home

together

Someday blooming

 

It is like a vision out of a nightmare

Violent people crawling like flies up walls

Windows breaking

 

Faces wild with excitement and glee

bodies emblazoned with the name of one

they follow

 

driven by a hundred devils

resentment, racism, greed, hate, perhaps even

a fear they will not admit

 

They revel in their power

to destroy and cow

 

no matter what they do

it seems they win

no matter what is done to resist them

we lose

 

if we cower, they win

if we strike back, they win

 

we are either overwhelmed

or we are sucked into the vortex of hate

 

yet here we stand

watching

wondering

knowing we must do something

 

what would Jesus do?

what does our allegiance to the prince of peace

demand?

 

we are called to be light, and to offer

a glimmer of hope in the darkness

we are called to be yeast, inexorably defining the whole

we are to be seeds planted

watered

nurtured

 

someday blooming

 

what can we do in these times?

 

we can work for peace

we can work for justice

we can speak of love

we can speak of equity and justice

 

remembering we are only a sliver of light

only a bit of yeast

only a seed buried in the earth

 

what can do we in these times?

So little, yet so much

___________________________________

 

Thankful for these words attributed to Oscar Romero

 

“This is what we are about

We are the seeds that one day will grow

We water the seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise

We lay foundations that will need further development

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities….

 

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the workman.”

                     Quoted by Scott Wright in Oscar Romero and the Communion of Saints