Summer solstice

today

on this day when light eclipses dark

on this longest day of the year

 

I think of the dark night of the soul

of that deep ponderous place

where if feels as if all the life has been

sucked out of one’s soul

 

where all meaning has collapsed

leaving the rubble of uncertainty and unknowing

 

there seems no way forward

and the meaning you had before

seems invalid

 

it is bad enough

that we experience ourselves

these moments of collapse

 

but it is terrifying when it seems

as if we are in the dark night of society (Rabbi Heschel)

where community crumbles

 

and even, perhaps,

the dark night of the species (Matthew Fox)

as we face a failing planet

failing compassion

failing democracies

 

as we see QAnon flourish

and lies canonized

and deficit human beings idolized

 

and watch the world collapse and burn

around us

 

even if we find our own small Edens

even if we manage to find our way to some small

island of meaning,

 

still the darkness looms

devouring the light

 

acedia sets in

and instead of carrying the weight of glory

we are ground down by the weight of our mortal flesh

 

in this moment we are driven to the essential questions

 

Why am I here?

Whom or what will I serve?

 

I remember the plea of Joshua

Choose this day

Choose this day whom you will serve

 

That I can do

I will serve the Lord

which is the same as saying “I will serve Love”

 

and if I serve Love

then I know why I am here

to love

 

I am here to “do good works” (Paul)

I am here to “do justice, love kindness, walk humbly” (Micah)

I am here to “love God and love my neighbor as myself” (Jesus)

 

I am here to reflect my divine DNA

and show forth the imago Dei

 

today is a new day

it is the longest day of the year

and this day I will choose whom I will serve

and this day I will remember why I am here

 

this day, I will walk in the light

today I will try to be light

a light in the darkness

that cannot be put out