9/1
It doesn’t matter
if it’s trickling out
or arriving in a flood,
you drink immediately.
________
Believe in the age of aquarius.
________
“I want to have a discussion about the mounting externalization we see in communities today.” Those in the room nod in understanding, sipping lukewarm coffee from plastic cups. “As spiritual leaders, it is incumbent upon us to lead us out of this desperate space.”
Rev. Matilda raises her hand. “It appears to me we have a two-fold problem on our hands. On one side, we have everything is your fault, your problem to fix, your dysfunction. This creates obvious tension with connection and a need to assign value accordingly. On the other side, there is a stark absence of recognition for the spirit that lives within, the space where each of us has harnessed hope, love and acceptance, even in the darkest of days. These two sides of essentially the same coin have created a cyclone of despair, with little connection with each other or oneself. What a lonely place to be!“
The others give nods of approval. “As we sit in this space,” the organizer, Calvin continues, “what can we do to move us out of this dark hole we find ourselves in? There are no easy answers, as the spaces of religion we occupy are understandably met with increasing suspicion and cynicism, And yet the people in this room I know to be what I would call beyond religion. Their religious architecture is only an earthly frame from which to do work of the soul. Looking at this problem through that lens, where do we go from here?” One of the oldest in the room raises her hand. “Go on, Sylvie,” Calvin invites. Sylvie begins.
“From the very start, there have been moments of momentum and moments of contraction. There have been times when the masses were in alignment and others, when the disparate nature of beliefs threatened to tear apart every ounce of structure they had left. And while many believe the former to be the space of healing, prosperity and joy, I think this discounts the opportunity to be had in the latter space.
For without pain, there can be no joy. Without the chaos, there can be no advancement of structure. Without an unwinding of old, there can be no new. So as I look at all of you well-intentioned, loving people, I ask you where your appreciation is for this moment? Did god himself through scripture or prayer ever tell us that we were to be searching for heaven on earth? Or did we instead hear that heaven has been given to us?
This life with all of its parts carries the most beautiful ingredients to make something the world has never seen. This was true 2000 years ago and it is still true today. We simply keep using the ingredients to build more life on top of life on top of life.
While I understand the good nature behind convening all of us and the commitment each of us has shown by being here, I’m not sure identifying this moment or any moment frankly as cataclysmic makes the most of these ingredients. Yes, there are aspects we’d like to change. Yes, there is suffering. Yes, there is a hopelessness that seems to permeate the air we breathe. And I say, how glorious is all of it?”
The room looked perplexed as Sylvie carried on.
“We are at the cusp of something incredible, something none of us have seen in our lifetimes. A space of renewed spiritual identity, of soulful expansion, of connection with source. For in the moments of great darkness, people reach for the light. Do you not see that this moment is heralding a spiritual revolution unlike any we’ve seen? One not built on the back of religion, but on the energy of being, of living, on carrying divine in body. And this, my friends, makes me so giddy I can barely put my teeth in every morning.”
The uncontrollable laughter broke any tension left in the room. “So what do we do, Sylvie,” one earnest leader asks. “Yeah, “the others agreed.
“My friends, we must stop trying to pull apart all the wrongs, looking deeply within them, attempting to understand them, trying to find collaboration, cause and solution within them. This is not the space from which we build. This is a space of further entrenchment and stagnation. No, no, my friends, the place we need to go is here.”
Sylvie points one arm to the sky and the other hand upon her heart.
“We need to rejoice in possibility, and the ripe and flavorful ingredients we’ve been given to create a land of our dreams. We need to feel the ripples of god, and spread that love and faith to each other. We need to convey to anyone who will listen that the light we see inside ourselves, the light we see burning in each other, when pulled together, creates the bright future each of us is searching for.
Right now, that is where our energy should be directed. Not at the externalization, although Calvin, I am so happy it pulled us together, but in the creation itself. How do we become the future we want to see? We have that power and just as we have seen in history, this moment of breaking apart portends a time when we glue ourselves back together improved.
But we need leaders to harness the dream, to bring people together around shared hope. Not to agree on anything except what we can be, for that dream is divinely inspired, and lives within each of us. That, and that alone, is what will transform the world. If we don’t have that, none of the other stuff matters because it is being addressed through scarcity, blame and fear. Let us instead hold fiercely the vision of what we know we can be. That is what I think we should do.”
Sylvie looked around to find tears running down the cheeks of those she had worked beside for so long. She felt immediately honored and overcome.
“We could begin to come together ourselves weekly to keep each other motivated and focused,” one person called out.
“We could invite our parishioners and communities to join us,” another suggested.
“We could divide ourselves into groups and meet with local leaders.“
“We could write opinion pieces.“
“We could be on TikTok,” the youngest attendee suggested. The roar and glee of the room was palpable.
“Well, Sylvie,” Calvin cheerfully continued, “it appears you have modeled exactly what you dream of right here. Where hope and possibility take the place of dreariness and desperation, unlocking inspiration, innovation, and belief along with it. Let us lead ourselves in prayer, that we may carry within ourselves and support within each other, the life force gifted to us by our creator - a life of joy, meaning, love and connection. By holding these preeminently where all can see them, including ourselves, may we build the world of peace and contentment we all dream of.”
“Amen,” the room cried.
“Now, let’s get started,” Calvin suggested as the attendees sat down in chairs and began to design their plans. Sylvie stayed to the side, beaming, hands over heart.
“This is it,” she said to god. “This is it.”
9/2
god,
by planting trees,
you give me
the courage to believe.
________
mom,
curiously,
am I who you
planned me to be?
~Cartwright
________
Mischievous in nature
he glides through life undetected
spent years racking up fortuitously
but who is to say he has done
anything short of amazing
the till expands to meet the drifter
an undisturbed balance
even for the most unsightly.
________
We have enough victims of life,
I want to be a proud recipient.
________
In every moment
there’s a different seed
sprouting to the surface
of revelation.
9/3
I’m a midlife cantor
expressing the pulses
of thousands
of women before me
who may or may not
have even heard themselves.
________
I ooze gold
in speech,
energy and being,
we each carry a color,
none better or worse
than another,
what color are you?
________
I wish my love
to attach itself
to anything
and everything
I lay my focus on.
________
There’s no distillation of truth,
it simply is in its entirety.
________
My body
implodes
with vicissitudes
from beyond.
________
There’s rarely
an opportunity
for closure
like this one
take it
you don’t know
if another
is coming around.
9/4
Keeping her foot
slightly removed from the pedal,
she shifts the jet off the ground
and heads to new reality,
her spouse is there waiting to pick her up,
he has a dog she hasn’t seen in a while,
having passed last year,
“Yep, she’s with us,” he calls out
as he sees her perplexed expression.
“Come on, get in.”
________
Imagine
if all the negative words
we said about another
came out positive,
we believed we were
saying one thing
but what actually
came out of our voice
was something different,
would we then start to move
our thoughts accordingly,
I think we should
test out that setting.
________
You don’t have to
find yourself
in other places,
you already know
who you are.
9/6
Somehow, somewhere,
you can bill someone,
and while they don’t seem to reciprocate,
they do but not in the avenue you expect,
they too are built from a different chord,
so while the melody and location are different,
it can still be enjoyed and exulted within a new frame.
________
I looked down onto the rain
and saw how each droplet
represented a different
aspect of humanity
love, joy, curiosity, benevolence
as if the rain droplets
were actual bits of ourselves
pouring down on us
our very constitution
right there in front of us
not solely inside
but the makings
permeating our world
I love this view
it’s so breathtaking
to see things this way.
________
I wish there was
some other way I could tell you,
but I must resort to language
as it appears you feel that best,
I’m just moving in a new
direction with communication,
one that seems to transcend
the old paradigm,
expression feels
so much deeper here,
I hope you join me soon,
there is really no place I’d rather be.
________
Deep down,
you know it too,
don’t you?
A cast
from the past
is rarely completed.
