It's as if what is unbreakable-
the very pulse of life-waits for
everything else to be torn away,
and then in the bareness that
only silence and suffering and
great love can expose, it dares
to speak through us and to us.
It seems to say, if you want to last,
hold on to nothing. If you want
to know love, let in everything.
If you want to feel the presence
of everything, stop counting the
things that break along the way.
Last weekend, many hearts were broken in Charlottesville, Virginia and across the nation. We watched as hatred and bigotry played out before us like an ancient Greek tragedy. The veil of our innocence was torn in two as we looked into the cracked mirror of our nation.
How hard it is not to count "the things that break." How hard it is not to "re-count" our brokenness in each morning's headlines. How hard it is not to count the deaths of young black men on our streets and want to act out in rage. How seemingly impossible it is to read the statistics of the men of color in our prisons and not realize that the justice system is deeply tilted against so many. We must count them: each and every one; lives that mattered and lives that do matter.
We must feel it all: anger, sorrow and despair. We must feel and then let go, lest we become embittered, frozen, or immobile in our rage.
Then we must lean into forgiveness, love, and possibility. We must move forward leaning on the presence of God, the sacred presence that is far greater than ourselves. A divine Presence that exists within us, around us, and through us calling us to be greater beings than we ever imagined we could be in this world.
If you want
to know love, let in everything.
This week I am letting "everything in" while praying for forgiveness and holding onto hope. Knowing in this kairos moment it is the time to "To act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
With love,
Jean Richardson, Director of Kirkridge
Comments
Post a Comment