O God,
What if you are more a verb than a noun.
More an action than a being.
And what if the same is true about Advent
As we begin that journey to Christmas.
Then, maybe instead of Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas
This becomes our wish for ourselves, each other and the world in which we live.
To be peace.
To be hope.
To be light.
To be God with us.
What if, O God…
A Hard Week
It has been a hard week for me.
Most weeks I am better at creating space between the onslaught of the daily news and my daily round.
But this week was different.
The heartbreak pushed in close.
The anger at our political process felt in my clenched teeth.
The lying and posturing leaving my sense of decency in tatters.
And, then I was to offer a prayer at a meeting I was a part of when I had no words left for a prayer. So, I went searching for these words which I first read a number of years ago and are written down somewhere in a journal I kept at the time.
Here they are.
A Franciscan Blessing.
For you.
And, for me.
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
Lent 2022
For the Christian community, we are about halfway through Lent. I wrote this for a video reflection shared by the Second Congregational Church in Londonderry, VT.
Unless it is pouring down rain, I walk nearly every day.
Some days my walk is through town, but on other days I walk on one of the dirt roads near where we live. As you know, if you live here in Vermont, there were some very cold days this winter. On those days it would have been easy to stay home. Inside where it was warm and safe.
But, there I was…
Hat. Mittens. Vest. Winter coat.
Going for my walk.
Walking in one direction often wasn’t too bad.
But, when I turned into the wind…it was cold!
I could feel myself shrink into my coat in an effort to hold onto whatever heat my body was generating. And, looking around, it seemed like even the trees were doing the very same thing. Holding onto whatever life energy they had until it became warmer and they could breathe and spread out again.
It occurred to me that maybe Lent is a bit like that.
A time set aside to intentionally acknowledge and to do our best to see and to face into the brokenness and frailty of our humanity. A frailty and brokenness we know and feel all too well. Everything from the war in Ukraine to the stain of racism to the anxiousness of waiting for the doctor’s report. A brokenness and frailty which often makes us want to pull back and to pull in. To find and to stay in that place where it is safe and warm. And yet, because we are people of faith, we dare to turn towards the world around us just as it is. Both heartbreakingly beautiful and heartbreakingly awful, and to walk in the direction of God’s Kingdom come and the promises of Easter.
The promises…
That Life is stronger than Death.
That Death does not have the final word.
That in the end, the power of Love will prevail over the love of power.
Lent reminds us we live in both places at the very same time.
Surrounded by the what is and yet, in faith…because of our faith…continuing to walk towards the what shall be.
May I offer this prayer…
Meet us where we are, O God, but leave us not there as we continue to walk through these days towards the promises of Easter. Amen.
Words….
“You have to treat them like shit.” *
“We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice.” **
“Laziness is a trait of blacks. It really is. I believe that.”
“We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one”
“[Vice President Pence] didn’t have the courage yo do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
“We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us”
“Crooked Hillary. Mini Mike Bloomberg. Crazy Bernie. Pocahontas. Cryin’ Chuck Schumer. Dope Frank Bruni. Alfred E. Newman (Pete Buttigieg). Sleepy Joe Biden.
“We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all”
“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about election results. All talk, talk, talk – no actions or results.”
“That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it”
“The point is you can never be too greedy.”
“When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it”
WORDS MATTER.
*All words in regular type are words written or spoken by Donald Trump
**All words in italics are from the poem The Hill We Climb written by Amanda Gorman and read at the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.
MLK Day 2021
I wrote (and spoke) this several years ago, but thought it might be worth revisiting today.
Last night I was privileged to attend the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet hosted by Antioch Baptist Church. At the end of the evening I was asked to give the Benediction. Here it is.
As we depart,
Both individually and collectively
Be who you are called to be.
In any and in all the ways you can
Seek justice.
Resist evil.
Stand strong against Death.
And all Death’s works and wiles.
Add your voice.
Move your feet.
Extend your hands.
And because it just might
Hold on to that long arc of history like your lives depend on it.
And pull
With as little or as much strength as you have
So that together we might help it continue to bend in the direction of justice.
And of peace.
And of hope.
And of promise.
For you and for me.
For us and for them.
For all of the children of God.
So, having been nourished by this evening’s gathering
Its words and its witness.
Go now and be Peace.
Amen.
Somewhere someone…
If you are not ___________ (fill in the blank) you are not paying attention.
Frustrated.
Angry.
Disheartened.
Pissed.
Exasperated.
Outraged.
Infuriated.
Worn out.
Used up.
Exhausted.
All that stuff out there is all those things.
At least to me.
And, all that stuff out there matters.
And makes a difference.
And demands our attention even if and when we are all of the above.
But today, I also offer this reminder.
Somewhere someone provided food for someone who was hungry.
Somewhere someone went the extra mile to help a stranger.
Somewhere someone called on someone who was sick.
Or alone.
Or afraid.
Or forgotten.
Somewhere someone spent the day helping to make a home safer.
Somewhere someone stopped what they were doing to listen.
Somewhere someone looked another person in the eye.
Somewhere someone said Thank you and meant it.
Somewhere someone promised to love another.
Somewhere someone rocked a baby who was crying.
Somewhere someone read a book to a child.
Somewhere someone took a step towards their dream.
Somewhere someone got back up off the ground.
Somewhere someone spoke up for what is right.
Somewhere someone stood up for what is right.
Somewhere someone broke their silence.
Somewhere someone overcame their fear.
Somewhere someone….
Maybe it was you.
And that matters.
And makes a difference.
And world of difference.
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