never alone

I am”, she insists, “dirty!  And God hates me”.

“It does not matter how hard I try”, he laments, “I cannot change”

“This has been a lost year” she whispers, “and what I have lost I will never get back”

 

the air is filled with the mist of despair

lost lives, lost days, lost jobs, lost relationships,

lost dreams

 

haunt us

 

voices whisper in our ears

words of fear

words of resentment

 

and we stand in the rubble

gazing around at the destruction

created by our toxic individualism,

our disregard for others,

our anger

our greed

 

we have created a wasteland

it is not so much that we have wandered into the desert

as we have created the desert

 

but as we stand, and tremble

as our stomachs churn and our hearts ache

and our heads are filled with the noise of desolation

 

a still small voice whispers

“I love you”

“I am here”

“I care”

“I will never leave you alone”

 

and we are reminded of the one who took

common clay, and spit, and restored sight

 

ah, what the Beloved can do with the remnants

 

 

ah what the Beloved can do

with the scraps that are left over

after we have done the worst we can do

 

and pause in our heedless devastation

for just a moment

covered with the dust of destruction

 

with Love nothing is wasted

no one is thrown out

 

we can do our worst

we can call for violent suppression

we can systematically oppress

 

we can minimize and disenfranchise and exclude others

we can wound ourselves

 

but still Love whispers

“I am here”

“I love you”

“I care”

“I will never leave you”

 

and with openness, with faith, with willingness

the size of a mustard seed

we will be restored

________________________________________

Blessed are you, O God,

in whom nothing is wasted.

You salvage the remnant,

the scrap, the shred.

                     Jan Richardson, The Path of Wisdom p. 65

 

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

And God will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; God will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of the people God will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

                     Isaiah 26