source of hope

We ourselves are not the source of that [mystical] hope; we do not manufacture it. But the source dwells deep within us and flows to us with an unstinting abundance, so much so that in fact it might be more accurate to say we dwell within it. . . .

 

The term I will use to describe this embodying fullness is “the Mercy.” It is the water in which we swim. Mercy is the length and breadth and height and depth of what we know of God—and the light by which we know it. You might even think of it as the Being of God insofar as we can possibly penetrate into it in this life, so that it is impossible to encounter God apart from the dimension of mercy. . . .

 

The mercy of God . . . is unconditional—always there, underlying everything. It is literally the force that holds everything in existence, the gravitational field in which we live and move and have our being. . . . Mercy is God’s innermost being turned outward to sustain the visible and created world in unbreakable love. . . .

Cynthia Bourgeault

__________________________

 

People wiser than I know we are in trouble

As a retiring, but still wise analyst noted

“They [the political and religious right]

have chosen to burn down the house [our country]

with us in it”

 

All that toxic dominion (authoritarianism and gun rights)

Added to toxic individualism (I don’t need no darn mask/shot)

Added to zeal turned to blind cruelty (pro-life)

 

And that added to all the more personal pain of life

Friends with aggressive cancer,

Beautiful people who won’t be with us much longer

Children hiding under desks at school

Families fragmenting

 

And those deep pains added to the little pains

A body that doesn’t work the way it used to

A mind that doesn’t work the way it used to

All the little aches

All the small disappointments.

 

It seems we are afloat in a sea of enmity

 

And yet!

 

The Mercy

The unconditional love that is woven into this creation

Woven into us

Woven (even) into those who cause us anxiety and pain

 

When we pray

When we breathe

When we go deep

 

There it is

That in which we live and move and have our being

 

If we look to those around us

To our leaders

Our friends

If we look at ourselves

 

It is probably impossible to have hope

But if we look to Love

If we realize that mercy is the water in which we swim

 

We can get up

And not just make it through another day

But fully live through another day

 

Hopefully

And thus lovingly

 

So may it be!

Swim children swim