… There are hundreds of ways to kneel & kiss the ground.
Let The Beauty We Love Be What We Do
Today, like every other day,
we wake up empty and frightened.
Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
Rumi
I had a whole different plan for today’s offering. There was so much happening, so much I wanted to direct your attention to. But then, just as John Lennon promised it would, Life happened …. Everywhere. In a matter of days I was visited by the unexpected death of a much-younger friend, the open-heart surgery of another not going as well as we’d hoped, and as always the dismal reports of the consequences of last November’s choices. … Then there comes a beautiful text from another friend who continues to report (with the utmost grace and humor) her amazing recovery progress from a brutal stroke. The question then becomes, of course, where do I place my attention? It’s so easy to get sucked down in the mud and forget to look up at the sky, to let ourselves get drawn back into the pages of the old sad stories we thought we had outgrown. Let’s not go there today.
If you’ve known me for awhile, you know that I identify as Unitarian Universalist rather than Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Humanist, Hindu, or Buddhist. Raised as a Lutheran, I also practiced Catholicism for a while, as well as Science of Mind (an aspect of the New Thought movement) ultimately rejecting the idea that there was one belief system that “worked” for everyone or that One, if any, was needed at all. I tend to find my Spirit of Life in poetry, music, the beauty of nature and the wonder of baby anythings.
The White Christian Nationalists’ hi-jacking of even half-way conservative Christians made my heart (and my stomach ) really hurt until I encountered James Talarico, a 36-year old, life-long Texan, former public school teacher and currently a Presbyterian Seminary Student, who has served in the Texas State House of Representative since 2018. I first experienced him as a Joe Rogan interviewee, then in conversation with Heather Cox Richardson and most recently (just yesterday) watched him give this amazing sermon. With Grace & Humor, it begins this way.
5 Top Reasons Why Beer is Better than Religion
- When you have beer you don’t have to knock on doors to give it away.
- There are laws against forcing beer on minors who can’t yet think for themselves.
- Nobody has ever been burned at the stake because of their favorite brand of beer.
- You don’t have to wait 2,000 years for a second one.
- If you’ve devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you.
BTW, did I mention that James Talarico is a Democrat? If you can spare 18 minutes for a bit of enlightenment about Christianity and what that could mean about how we govern ourselves, you can get it here.
My post on October 28th offered a soup recipe from All In The Soup Together … Four Seasons of Recipes & Reflections (for cooks who like soup & poetry on the same menu). I promised another next time and here it is … guaranteed to fill your home with the welcoming promise of cold weather comfort. Cranberry Chipotle Lentil. Next time, I’ll share something for the carnivores.
And just for good measure as we begin the season of Gratitude & Giving, one of my own favorite poems … one I wrote some years ago when I thought things couldn’t get any worse. Hmmmnnn.
Seasonal Inventory
Three days of rain and summer’s garden, having
danced across the full calendar page. begins to drag
its muddy feet. What’s left of the sunflowers bow
their heavy heads as if in prayer, a hard freeze
predicted for the weekend.Leaves just last week lush on elegant vines
curl inward, yellowing, turning brittle, letting go
into the wind. All last night it rained, cold and
hard. What can the weatherman tell me that
I don’t already know?Eyewitness updates of natural disasters and
humanity’s failings dominate the morning news
screen, flinging images of hungry children with
vacant eyes and bloated bellies, the latest count
of deaths from the virus, earthquakes, drought,
fires, famine and war … always war.I turn off the TV and go out to pick the lavender
and baby’s breath. Hanging them gently upside
down to dry next to the goldenrod, I can almost
feel their assurance of transformation.Finally, gathering the green tomatoes and
snipping the last of the basil, I remind myself,
Take a breath. Ignore the news. Plant the bulbs.
Let’s not forget these words … also from Rumi. Out beyond ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. Until next time, may the beauty we love be what we do and may we be known by the company we keep.
Love,
Sulima
Buying me an occasional coffee helps me keep these stories coming … and gives me one less reason to cross my fingers when my Social Security payment is due!
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