Reference: John 18:20-23
A man strikes Jesus in the face for speaking the truth.
Jesus
when the man
struck your face
you asked him a question of integrity.
Help all of us
in situations of
stress
to ask direct
questions.
Because you did.
And while it
didn’t save you
it kept you
close to
your own
beautiful heart.
Amen
Padraig
O’Tuama
________________________
What is the worst thing
about all this?
The lies, the cruelty,
the apathy?
Is it that the poor are being abandoned?
The vulnerable neglected?
Minorities oppressed and
women devalued?
Is it the hate, the racism,
the greed that passes all understanding?
Or is it that we are
losing our humanity
the image
We feel so helpless
as we are sucked
into the vortex of chaos
and unthinking brutality?
Is it that people are being
denied and erased
and that as the hot fire
of affront
rages
our hearts too
are wounded
We are being made into what we resist
people who do not see other people
as Sacred Children
who do not respect
and cherish
Jesus when struck
did not strike back
he sought
connection and understanding
He treated his assailant
with the respect
he was not given
Lord, keep me close to my heart
and to yours
in this time of stress
when the
mostly fearful and unknowing
strike
Let us ask why
seek to unwrap
the truth
so that both they and we
see and understand
May we create, if only for a moment
connection
a sense of common humanity
They may not change
or come to understand
we may not stop
the violence
Perhaps those who would
use power
to destroy
will still prevail,
continue on their path
We may not rescue ourselves
from the devastation
but maybe
at a deeper level than we understand
we will
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