Food for the Soul | November 11th, 2020

11/11/2020 

Dear Friends, 

So many reasons to be ecstatic, euphoric, happy, etc. We are past the election campaigns, we have a president-elect, we have the most fantastic weather for November. God is good, God is generous, God loves us, all of us, regardless of party affiliation. If the results are not to your liking, you can still rejoice in the fact that we are moving into new territory. Have we solved everything? Not by a long shot. Yet, we are allowed a sigh of relief, and a cleansing breath. Now comes the hard part. We need to build bridges of reconciliation that allow us to move forward together, as God’s beloved community. We all yearn for a deep healing and for wholeness, which enable us to recognize and acknowledge the “other” as part of the Body of Christ. The best way to do this is to have a very open mind, to develop a new mind. Remember, Jesus said: You are the Light of the world. Now let the Light shine in, around, and through you. It is a time for newness. 

PRAYER 

May we become bearers of joy, 

We who are invited to share in the Cosmic Dance! 

May we walk in faith all the days of our life – 

Confident in your Divine Presence,  

Even in times of trouble, and 

With assurance for what is and all that is to be, 

May we have faith in the unfolding of our lives, 

And radical trust in the universe! 

Excerpted from Psalm 106, Nan Merrill, Psalms for Praying 

PRACTICE 

African American philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader Howard Thurman (1900–1981) developed an insight that allowed transformation and healing to occur. With tenderness and pastoral concern, he reminds us that one of the most important aspects of healing is the process of  offering our wounding to God. I invite you to take several slow, deep breaths to settle your body and calm your mind; then read Thurman’s words slowly and contemplatively, either voiced or within the silence of your heart. 

Our Little Lives 

Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Thy altar! 
The quietness in Thy Temple of Silence again and again rebuffs us: 
For some there is no discipline to hold them steady in the waiting 
And the minds reject the noiseless invasion of Thy Spirit. 
For some there is no will to offer what is central in the thoughts— 
The confusion is so manifest, there is no starting place to take hold. 
For some the evils of the world tear down all concentrations 
And scatter the focus of the high resolves. 

War and the threat of war has covered us with heavy shadows, 
Making the days big with forebodings— 
The nights crowded with frenzied dreams and restless churnings. 
We do not know how to do what we know to do. 
We do not know how to be what we know to be. 

Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Thy altar! 
Brood over our spirits, Our Father, 
Blow upon whatever dream Thou hast for us 
That there may glow once again upon our hearths 
The light from Thy altar. 
Pour out upon us whatever our spirits need of shock, of lift, of release 
That we may find strength for these days— 
Courage and hope for tomorrow. 
In confidence we rest in Thy sustaining grace 
Which makes possible triumph in defeat, gain in loss, and love in hate. 
We rejoice this day to say: 
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Thy altar! 

Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart (Beacon Press: ©1953, 1981), 83‒84. 

POEM 

Blessing of Hope 

So may we know 
the hope 
that is not just 
for someday 
but for this day— 
here, now, 
in this moment 
that opens to us: 

hope not made 
of wishes 
but of substance, 

hope made of sinew 
and muscle 
and bone, 

hope that has breath 
and a beating heart, 

hope that will not 
keep quiet 
and be polite, 

hope that knows 
how to holler 
when it is called for, 

hope that knows 
how to sing 
when there seems 
little cause, 

hope that raises us 
from the dead— 

not someday 
but this day, 
every day, 
again and 
again and 
again.  
—Jan Richardson, The Cure for Sorrow