Yes

I love, love, LOVE this.

What if, in addition to the streets, 

we took our rallies for peace

into the woods, and the rivers, 

and all the natural places we love?

"Go together, go alone.

Say no to the Lords of War,which is money. . ."

Isn't this the truth?

Everyone can participate. 

Solo rallies in the woods, at the river,

in the garden. Take a selfie saying yes.

"Say no by saying yes to the air,

 to the earth, to the trees yes to ...the rivers, 

to the birds and the animals 

and every living thing."

Say no by saying yes.  

Wendell Berry, your words fill me with hope and peace 

and an idea for how to recalibrate our world. Thank you with 

a heart-filled YES.

Namaste

 

What If We All Met

"And here, unseen, is the bridge of the moment that links me

to all that was and all that is, all that is real and all that is dream.

The bridge, as long as forever. The bridge as solid as rain.

The long, beautiful bridge vast enough to hold every word,

every story, every version of what might be."

I've had panic attacks on long, high bridges. . .

so much so I couldn't speak.  My stomach

and my throat seized up and all I could do was

gasp and laugh an uncontrollable laugh;

the kind that comes just before sobbing.

So when I first read a poem about meeting on a bridge,

as a metaphor for "behaving beautifully" it felt somewhat odd to me. 

I immediately linked it to the rainbow bridge and pets.

Rosemerry's poem does a magnificent job of 

rearranging the metaphor in a way that pleases me. 

"It is the bridge toward understanding.

And here is you. And here is me."

I would add, here is you and here is me 

and over there is them.  

The need for this "bridge toward understanding"

feels exceedingly urgent, which unexpectedly

 circles back to my panic attack.

May we find the way to meet them on this bridge

and begin to heal the divide in our country.

May the energy of understanding make tidal waves

across the globe and recalibrate the current atmosphere.

We are in this together and we can do this.

 Thank you for being here.

Namaste

PS: This brought to mind this image by brother-in-law drew in 2020.  

Note the fragility of this bridge.  Now think of the fragile look of a spider web.

"spider silk being stronger than steel on a pound-for-pound basis, 

exhibiting remarkable tensile strength and elasticity."

We are as strong and flexible as a spider web!

 

Opposition

.

"That a narrow vision of control, creating opposition where it doesn't need to exist, 

is a human-centered fixation like post-baptism bibles...

plucked from street corners from the meaty hands of zealots*."

It seems from her poem that Renee Good wrestled with the "opposition" 

between science and faith as so many of us do…(or don’t)

especially when raised in an atmosphere of strong dogma

where you're steeped in it before you reach an age of reason.

I'm waiting in gingerly optimistic hope that one day, narrow minded

people who insist on everyone seeing things their way, will be relegated

to places where their perspective can not harm others. 

". . .as I continue to wonder what can and cannot be easily

seen on Earth as it is in the heavens."

What do you find when you contemplate what 

can and cannot be seen on Earth as it is in the heavens?

I love how she puts this last sentence.

By making heavens plural and preceeding it with a simple "the";

the meaning shifts from something 

conveyed in the King James version of the Lord's prayer,

"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven;

closer to one English translation of the line from Aramaic...

"As we find your love in ours, let heaven and nature form a new creation.” **

How ironic is it that her poem addresses one of the things I believe 

lies in the center of the division in our country?

Is it the result of believers steeped in dogma being manipulated by

wickedly clever people of dubious, self serving intention?

Nonetheless, we see through the subterfuge 

and are doing what it takes to make it seen here on Earth.

Namaste

*https://poets.org/2020-on-learning-to-dissect-fetal-pigs

**Douglas-Klotz, Neil. Prayers of the Cosmos: Reflections on the Original Meaning of Jesus' Words 

Building The World

"I haven’t given up on humans yet.

Though here in America where 

masked agents pull women and men from their homes--

people who build our communities, our country--we 

are so far from the goodness I imagine."

How can goodness be missing? 

Talk about beyond the question.

How can we chew (like a termite)* 

to undermine and collapse this structure of cruelty?

"It is in all of us, the bully, the one

who enjoys destruction, the one who

wants to feel powerful, strong."

The only destruction my "inner bully" wants

is of cruelty and injustice and domination.  

I'd be happy to destroy the brutal actions of white supremacy. 

"But it is also in us all to speak out for each other, 

to stand up for each other, to say no, this is not okay. "

We are doing this and we will keep on doing it.

We can't give up. Goodness matters.

"going out the next recess,  and the next, 

and the next, to build together again. 

Because we can."

Once again, I'm reminded that recess (rest)

is part of the equation.  

Yes, we must do everything we can

and we need recess to gather ourselves,

for ourself and for each other

so we can continue this arduous drive;

this striving for goodness.

Thank you for being here.

We can do this.

Namaste

* ps://substack.com/@jdrewlanham/note/c-185855577?r=59ose&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action.

Beyond The Question

"Can I weave a nest of silence, weave it of listening..."?

"One must first become small, nothing but a presence,

attentive as a nesting bird. Proffering no slightest wish

toward anything that might happen or be given.

What a fine way to describe meditation.

I'm thinking its possible to do this anywhere...

especially when you find yourself in waiting rooms, 

or crowded loud spaces with lots of action and noise.

"Only the warm, faithful waiting, contained in one's smallness.

I suspect she means smallness in relation to the universe,

rather than smallness as in unimportant.

We're important in our smallness.

We're important in our silence...

"beyond the question, before the answer."

My question is: will we overcome this current atmosphere?

I sit in silence before the answer

holding unto hope;

holding unto goodness.

Namaste

 

Touch The Earth

"To all who love her, who open to her

the doors of their veins, she gives 

of her strength, sustaining them with

her own measureless tremor of dark life."

I feel this ever more deeply in my goldening years.

My heart aches for want of proper care for her.

Yet, she continues to operate with exquisite offerings.

Steady and dependable with surprises abounding. 

Dark life is a fitting term as we still know so little

and much of her majesty is hidden.

"Rest your spirit in her solitary places."

Yes, for those who are fortunate to have access.

How many do not?  I'm thinking of those

in prisons, detention centers, and over-populated cities.

Can their solitary places be imagined,

or remembered in inner space?

For the gifts of life are the earth's 

and they are given to all. . .

Namaste

 

Unsung

"Do not discount your necessity.

One act of love makes a person.

One kind word builds a whole movement.

One small, yet persistent and dependable voice 

in our lives restructures the foundation of this shared world."

Everyone matters.

Small gestures of kindness and understanding

can shift things significantly.

Let us not underestimate our power to change 

the trajectory of the moment,

the hour, the day...our life.

My motto for today?

Keep it simple, keep it true, keep it real, keep it kind.

I'm glad you're here.

Namaste