How to Begin the Day

"For the glory of God and the wellbeing of the nations" ... is how I often end a prayer.

For me, the glory of God is always a redemptive, therapeutic, encouraging,notion - going out of myself into the goodness and righteousness of God ... not to lose myself, nor to placate a narcissistic divinity, but to find my bearings, to sense the rhythm of life, the flow of creation, and my place within it, and with all that is, knowing that I belong to God, and God is a constant presence for good.

And that, I think, leads to a concern for the wellbeing of the nations ... demanding of me an awareness of the times and challenges of the present age.

This world IS my home, at least for awhile, and while I'm here, I have to be engaged - with a knowledge of the news, local and global ... I have to know history if I'm going to pray intelligently. It's like some of the recital Psalms, detailing the "history" of Israel ... the flow of events that bring us to the moment.

I do not live in a spiritual bubble, though I often wish I did. To take my own creation seriously, and the creation of the world gratefully, this is where I live, and if I can, I will, let my light shine.

With a constant trust (lest I fall into despair) that the Spiritual Presence, the primal goodness of God, will prevail ... rarely with ease, as we see in the Cross, yet with victory, as we see in the resurrection ... and a deeply personal redemption, as we see with Jesus and Peter on the beach.

"For the glory of God and the wellbeing of the nations" ... is how I often end a prayer ... and a good way to begin the day!

Needy and Greedy

Is a person born greedy?
No, I think not.
But born needy, for sure.
For music and mercy.
For a soft bed and gentle hugs.

And if those needs for love and security,
Are not met, need segues into greed.

A greed that can never be satisfied.
Because greed grabs and takes and
Hates,
Hates,
Hates,
Those who have what it wants.

That's when greed turns cruel.
It shows up a lot in the rich and the powerful.
Because greed works. often times.
Greed gains success, and builds country clubs,
And a few towers along the way.
And even becomes a President!

Greed grows cruel.
Hating those who have what it wants.
And worse, hating those who have little.

Blaming them for their poverty.
Naming the lazy and calling them rapists.
Building walls around them.
Shaming them and demanding of them.

Strange that evangelicals should join the chorus of greed.
But maybe not surprising, because evangelicalism hollows
Out the soul and depletes the spirit with empty promises.
Tells people they don't have to think.
And only do as they're told.
Regaling the the people with promises.

Promises that offer gold, and deliver lead instead.

And so the soul turns greedy all the more.
It wants god, more god, more faith, more this, more that, and what's the difference for the word, "more"? More of god, more of money, more of anything, everything ... because more has no boundaries, no rest, no purpose other than more.

And in Jesus' name, the evangelical soul joins the chorus of condemnation of the poor ...

Building walls of ill will toward those who, with their poverty, 

Embarrass the evangelical.
Those of whom Jesus might well have spoken a "blessed are."
But no blessing in the evangelical soul.
The greedy soul.
The soul of the damned and the soul of the damaged.

And in turn, the damned soul can only damn all the more.
And damage everyone and everything it touches.

Too bad when the needy, in the ebbs and flows of life,
Which can be mighty cruel, we all know,
Should become greedy.

And worse, when that greed acquires money.
And the pride of work and achievement.
And fame and notoriety.
In a culture that bows down before Mammon.
A culture that loves filthy lucre.
And admires the self-made jerk.
And believes in the virtue of skin color and privilege over others of darker hue, or other tongues.

Too bad when that happens.

Too bad ... for everyone.
For everything.
For every creature under heaven.
All creatures,
Great and small.

When the sad and greedy soul takes command.
And leads a nation down the road of perdition.

There will be a time of reckoning.
There always is.
A time to regain balance.
And to hear Jesus say, "Blessed are ..."

To the reader of these words.
Be of good cheer.
Be mindful of your spirit.
Your soul.

Do not be tempted by hate, even righteous hate.
But choose the goodness that we call love.
Open arms.
Open minds.

And truth will walk on in.
And along with truth.
Compassion.
And with compassion, all that is sacred!

Purposeful Unhappiness

Different kinds of unhappiness:

Some of it arises from a deep and powerful connection to the universe, and to its pain.

Was Jesus unhappy?
Of course, he was, a good many times.
But his unhappiness wasn't destructive.
It was creative, compassionate and healing.
Strong enough to be deconstructed on a cross.
But the very nature of his unhappiness gave rise to life.
In the end/beginning, it couldn't be killed.

There's another kind of unhappiness that comes from disconnects:
From regret and jealousy.
From hate and bitterness.
Abuse and neglect.
Feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, frustration.

Religion often generates this kind of unhappiness.
A sad "righteousness."
That gloats in the sorrow of others.
That dreams of punishment and death for the many.
And salvation for the righteous few.
It's never peaceful.
It snarls and growls a lot.

Religious or not.
It lashes out and despises the world.

It finds purpose in destructiveness.
Deconstructive, taking something apart.
Smashing it to pieces.

In the end, disaster.
For those caught in its grip.
And at the very source.
In the soul of the unhappy.
Death.

Yet, for those unhappy because of connection.
Unhappy in their compassion.
Unhappy in their vision for a new day.
Something good and beautiful for the world.

Those who refuse to build walls.
Who refuse the language of race and exclusion.
Those who speak truth to power.
And challenge the lies that power needs to be power.

For them, life.
Life on the hard side, for sure.
Life drained away in labor and love.
And life replenished in the doing of good.

Life returned to the giver by the universe.
Life at the source.
In the soul.
The center.
Spreading out.

It's okay to be unhappy in the goodness of compassion.
Compassion requires it.
And makes it whole and constructive.
A powerful unhappiness that dreams and strives.

And the universe says: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Well, Gang, We Made It

Well, Gang,
We made it.

All the way to this Gettin' Up Day.
When stones of hate and fear.
Are rolled away.

Oh, but those stones felt so good.
So righteous and so strong.

Stones of faith hardened by harshness.
Stones of dogma carved by hypocrisy.
Stones of righteousness backed up by bible quoting.
Stones of collusion between Jerusalem and Rome.
Stones to keep away the new thing God is doing.

Uh uh, dear friends, no surprises here.
The powers-that-be won't put up with it.
When politics and religion collude, death arrives on time.

But somehow or other, God breaks through.
The Spiritual Presence moves mountains and stones.
And the living reality of grace, mercy and peace.
Faith, hope and love.
Arises from the death we gave.
The death we love:
The death of another.

Life cannot be so easily defeated.
Yet damage is done.
Real and sad.
Christ shows the scars of his trial and his travail.

Changed forever.
Yet Christ remains:
The light of the world.
Our hope for all the years to come.
Living water and stout bread.
The shepherd of our souls.
The peace that passes all understanding.

This Gettin' Up Mornin'.
Tho't it would never get here.

But it did.
And it will.
Again and again.

To push away the stones we still have.
The stones we love more than life itself.
The stones we have in-waiting.

To bury the new.
The fire.
The love.

And the new, the fire, and the love.
Will suffer and will die.
By our own hand and many a righteous lie.

And we'll hurry up and put it all away.
In a tomb of our own clever making.

And there it will rest until an early morning.
With the dawning of a new day.
To shove the stone away.

The good prevails.
With scars to reveal.
To remind us:
Not to fear.

Not to fear our own days of hurt and grief.
When we follow in his love.
With words and deeds that beckon to life..
And shove away the stones of strife.

A glorious, profound, and ever-bright Easter.
For all creatures, great and small:
A Good Morning to each and to all!