We aren’t living a dream. We are living in the reality of troubled times full of people who are aching for some kind of truth that will set them free. I’m not sure what else we can really expect. There is such an emphasis in our culture on power and fame and wealth. The vast population of US citizens are not going to be powerful or famous or wealthy, and yet that seems to be the perpetual goal. How do we not realize that such a goal will inevitably lead to frustration and disappointment and sometimes, desperation? And where does desperation lead? Most often it leads to some sort of tragedy.
Oh, then there are the ‘rights’. That’s the trendy topic right now. Individual rights. Each person is entitled, and if someone else’s entitlement steps on the next person’s rights, well there is going to be a big fuss. “It’s my right,” is the current National Anthem.
Additionally, there is the fear foundation that sends everyone running towards weaponry to keep their property and people safe. That’s how you do it, right? I mean, that’s how Hollywood says to do it. That’s how our government says to do it. Our tax dollars prove that. We need to be the biggest, and baddest with the biggest, baddest gun to gain the respect and attention of the ‘bad guys.’ Is it working? Really? Is it working? The evening news is not convincing me that we are on the path to greater security, reason, and happiness by way of the biggest and baddest mentality.
Why aren’t we calling to task the promoters of lostness? Why are we still spending our money to support the Hollywood glorification of that which makes us sick? How can we be so ignorant to think that our love of killing isn’t the problem? I don’t understand how we don’t understand. Why are we allowing the undercurrent of negativity and destruction and fear to be so strong, and why aren’t we working more intentionally to dispel such? I want to work harder to dispel such.
If you have a glass of water and you put a drop of blue food coloring into that water, and you stir the water around… you’ll have water that is blue. But if you continue to pour in clean, clear water, the blue water will begin to spill out and eventually you’ll have a glass of water that is not blue. Just because the water is troubled now, doesn’t mean that drop by drop we can’t change it. It seems so overwhelming to believe that gentle, kind measures can right the wrong. It feels like such a slow process when the bleeders are bleeding. How in the world can prayer and courtesy and thoughtfulness and generosity and faithfulness to one another mend the mess we are in?
Go find out. Do your own soulful searching. Toss light onto your own shadows and tend them so they can heal. Then, while you are at it, come alongside of someone else tending her own shadows, and let her know she is not alone. Show up. Show up with hope. Show up with kindness toward the stranger. Show up in tangible measures that demonstrate your prayers have legs and heart and hands. Be about that which gives life, opens doors, and honors the tenderness of this existence. Extend to others your open hand and see what you come home with. It’s not the time to be afraid. It’s the time to be of great courage and great wisdom. It’s time to make the goodness known, visible, palpable, and abundant. John McCutcheon sings, “Step by step the longest march can be won, can be won. Many stones can form an arch singly done, singly done. And by union what we will, can be accomplished still. Drops of water turn a mill, singly done, singly done.”
Oh, then there are the ‘rights’. That’s the trendy topic right now. Individual rights. Each person is entitled, and if someone else’s entitlement steps on the next person’s rights, well there is going to be a big fuss. “It’s my right,” is the current National Anthem.
Additionally, there is the fear foundation that sends everyone running towards weaponry to keep their property and people safe. That’s how you do it, right? I mean, that’s how Hollywood says to do it. That’s how our government says to do it. Our tax dollars prove that. We need to be the biggest, and baddest with the biggest, baddest gun to gain the respect and attention of the ‘bad guys.’ Is it working? Really? Is it working? The evening news is not convincing me that we are on the path to greater security, reason, and happiness by way of the biggest and baddest mentality.
Why aren’t we calling to task the promoters of lostness? Why are we still spending our money to support the Hollywood glorification of that which makes us sick? How can we be so ignorant to think that our love of killing isn’t the problem? I don’t understand how we don’t understand. Why are we allowing the undercurrent of negativity and destruction and fear to be so strong, and why aren’t we working more intentionally to dispel such? I want to work harder to dispel such.
If you have a glass of water and you put a drop of blue food coloring into that water, and you stir the water around… you’ll have water that is blue. But if you continue to pour in clean, clear water, the blue water will begin to spill out and eventually you’ll have a glass of water that is not blue. Just because the water is troubled now, doesn’t mean that drop by drop we can’t change it. It seems so overwhelming to believe that gentle, kind measures can right the wrong. It feels like such a slow process when the bleeders are bleeding. How in the world can prayer and courtesy and thoughtfulness and generosity and faithfulness to one another mend the mess we are in?
Go find out. Do your own soulful searching. Toss light onto your own shadows and tend them so they can heal. Then, while you are at it, come alongside of someone else tending her own shadows, and let her know she is not alone. Show up. Show up with hope. Show up with kindness toward the stranger. Show up in tangible measures that demonstrate your prayers have legs and heart and hands. Be about that which gives life, opens doors, and honors the tenderness of this existence. Extend to others your open hand and see what you come home with. It’s not the time to be afraid. It’s the time to be of great courage and great wisdom. It’s time to make the goodness known, visible, palpable, and abundant. John McCutcheon sings, “Step by step the longest march can be won, can be won. Many stones can form an arch singly done, singly done. And by union what we will, can be accomplished still. Drops of water turn a mill, singly done, singly done.”
RSS Feed
