Refusing Despair

Refusing Despair, we surrendered to Hope. We remembered our ruined stories and marked the disasters along the way. Returning to scenes of misconceptions, we nearly drowned for fear of their depths. But Faith carried us forward. We opened our eyes. We unstopped our ears. Truth showed us grief we ignored, crimes we witnessed. We came to believe life had always been unmanageable alone but now we embraced the friendship of clarity. Using the mirror of our memories, we found relics of our desires and unearthed them with our prayers. In the spring of our returning we found the children we suffered to be. Discovering them isolated, cold and hungry, we embraced them, soothed them with listening, cradled them with understanding. We told them what we ourselves had forgotten and they had never heard – “Don’t be afraid. Fear robs. Hope protects.” We became new children that day, chattering like birds, receiving our bread every morning, drinking God’s peace with the moon.

Get Carried Away (or Statement of Rights)

We have the right to get carried away by love, to celebrate the whole of creation, to smile, to pray, to bear witness as to what it means to be created in the image of God. We have the right to praise The Creator, to keep our eyes open, to examine our intentions, to cherish mercy, to stand against evil, to sit in solitude, to sing in community, to be amazed at children, to respect the elderly, to walk around flowers, to expose cruelty, to cling to faith, to practice gratitude, to say we’re sorry. We have the right to speak the truth, admit confusion, strive for simplicity, accept God’s liberation from chaos. We have the right to refuse the shame of our need, admit pain, to ask questions, celebrate joy and the freedom to live with an eye toward the dignity bestowed unearned upon us by God Almighty.