Yes, even now, / when so much is struggle: / Praise bodies that sweat and tremble
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Yes, even now, when so much is broken: Praise tears that will not be held back, witness to the immeasurable beauty of the smile of a 6-year-old gunned down by those who praise nothing.
Yes, even now, when so much is at risk: Praise the blood that pulses its systole and diastole rhythm, dancing to and from the heart, even when the sky is smoke and our masks have become an ordinary necessity.
Yes, even now, when so much is struggle: Praise bodies that sweat and tremble, muscles tense with embodied comprehension that we are headed the wrong way, and the irresistible urge to change direction, a glorious, clumsy, prodigal return.
Yes, especially now, when so much is at stake: Praise something, anything, so alive and extravagant that it awakens and calls you to discard despair, abandon apathy and praise whatever brings you back to life.
Excerpted with permission from Breaking and Blessing: Meditations by Sean Parker Dennison (Skinner House, 2020).
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