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Thirst is what is possible
In our work for justice and healing, Gretchen Haley suggests that we “start with the thirst.”
thirst is what is possible
when we tend to the wanting
of all the world, the generations, the stars
starting with
your one, dry mouth
and the reaching for the glass,
the pouring, and the filling
the lifting to your tongue, and the
drinking in until you are
drenched in
life (Another Possibility, August 23)
A moral obligation to confront hate
Kate Lore writes that it is “a time for people of faith to come together and speak out.”
We must begin with the reminder that we are One. . . . To exalt one group over another is to deny subordinated groups their full human dignity as children of God. It is a blasphemy and an injustice. Confronting white supremacy, though, is an arduous and difficult task for white people, requiring steadfast moral courage and a willingness to take risks. (The Peninsula Daily News, August 23)
Daniel Gregroire writes that intolerance has no place in faith.
The hypocrisy of transphobia is born of religious intolerance. Bigotry, fear, and ignorance can only be cast out by love. Only love is of God. Love is the only evidence of the holy presence, of the truth that transcends all understanding. . . . If we cannot love unconditionally then our religion, our faith, is false. And we are liars. (The Telegram, August 23)
They want you to love them
Erika Hewitt writes to any “darling owner of a magnificent human body” who might be considering a “fall cleanse.”
You know the parts of your body that wobble, shimmy, or pooch? They don't want a different color of juice every day. They want you to LOVE them as helplessly as you'd love a fuzzy puppy if I held one out right now. . . .
YOU are a miracle of tissue, bone, and organs. You are also, maybe, a miracle of cellulite, wrinkles, and a cute butt that needs pants of ever-increasing size. There's a power far greater than living on juice for 10 days, and that's being able to celebrate that second sentence just as gratefully as you celebrate the first. (Facebook, August 22)
Robin Bartlett offers a prayer for all those affected by the start of the school year.
Praying for all of our kids on the first day of school. The ones who are nervous or scared, the ones who are excited, the ones the other kids pick on, the perfectionists, the ones for whom school comes hard, the ones who no one sees. . . .
May we build a world worthy of our children’s promise. (Facebook, August 27)
Adam Lawrence Dyer experiences being black in America as an obstacle to being seen as an individual.
One particularly crucial “right” that has eluded us. . . . is the right to be understood as an individual. Black people in America have never been seen as individuals. This country would never tolerate or make excuses for a black Donald Trump . . . let alone elect him President.
Like the physical embodiment of the “dark continent,” we are seen primarily as windows into a mysterious “other” at the expense of our unique and individual lives. . . . As our humanity continues to be debated in the public sphere, we remain primarily visible to the conscience of the country as a collection of devastating group statistics. (spirituwellness, August 22)
A time to refrain from speaking
Dan Harper highly recommends an interview with Lenny Duncan, a black Lutheran minister.
Duncan . . . believes in the value of shutting up: “As someone who shows up as a cis male, if I’m quiet long enough typically a female or femme in the room will say the same thing I was gonna say much more succinctly and probably more intelligently than I would.” (Yet Another Unitarian Universalist, August 29)
After writing an unintentionally provocative blog post about gun control, Doug Muder reflects on what a similarly contentious blog post taught him.
There are writers who love the provocateur role and even some who are good at it, and I don’t want to judge them. But to me it would be a kind of hell. It’s not in my character to take satisfaction in the hate and anger of others, so I don’t know how I could get up every morning and intentionally aggravate people. (The Weekly Sift, August 26)