Fear is the door
in the heart that lets evil spirits in.
Lakota teacher Buck Ghosthorse
To be Resurrection for another I need to be Resurrection
for myself. That means I cannot dwell in [despair] and death and anger and
oppression and submission and resentment and pain forever. I need to wake up,
get up, rise up, put on life even when days are dark and my soul is down and
shadows surround me everywhere…. I have to listen to the voice that says:
“Be resurrection.”… “Be born
again. And again. And again. Rise up and be counted. Rise up and imbibe the
good news deeply—that death does not conquer, that life, not death, has the
last word….”
Matthew
Fox (as quoted by Richard Rohr, Daily Meditations 4/13/23
Plant sequoias, Practice resurrection
Wendell
Berry
_______________________________________
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity,
it was the season of light, it was the season of
darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
(Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities)
and so it is
we are in epic times
and it is not the first time
human creatures have been here
perhaps we are always here
living in a paradox
living in a liminal world
between good and evil
between freedom and authoritarianism
between progress and regress
between death and tomb
and resurrection and life
I sometimes wonder what keeps us here
lurking in the empty tomb
moping around the garden
hiding in an upper room
ah!
fear
I think that is it!
how is it that we fear life?
Fear true freedom?
Fear progress?
Fear one another?
I do not know, but we do
what causes Donald Trump to lie and bully?
what causes him to act in predatory ways?
what causes Ron DeSantis to seek total control?
and to lust for retribution?
what causes a white-dominated legislature to
try and silence, and push to the back of the room
(or even expel) young black leaders
what causes so many Americans to grasp the
gross lethality of an AR 15?
what causes those on the left to demonize those on the
right
and fail to listen or respect?
what causes me to live my life haunted
that I will not ever be enough
that I am deficit and thus must compensate for that
and prove my value?
Fear
Fear that one is not loved
Not relevant
Without power
Fear that one will be
oppressed, suppressed, eradicated
And so in fear, we behave
poorly
Embracing oppression,
suppression, and even death
We putter around the graveyard
The place of death
And do not practice resurrection
It is time for us to embrace
life
we need to “wake up, get up,
rise up,”
we need to “put on life”
even when days are dark and
souls are afflicted
and our hearts hurt
and shadows loom
We have to hear the call to
come of out the tomb
To leave the graveyard
And say
I have seen Life
We have to choose to live
To be a presence in the world
that is joy
That is hope
That is compassion
That is love
We have to rise up and be
counted
Again and again
We have to practice resurrection
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