“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” Matthew 10:28.
 
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him” Job 13:15.
 
They are closing in; they are walking, 
     running, marching with sticks and 
          stones to break my bones. Maybe. At 
least all the images from January 6 
     tell me so, and the images are shown 
          over and over and over to impress upon 
me how tentative is my very existence. 
     And so what am I left to do? Barricade 
          inside? I’m almost there already thanks 
to the virus. Weaponize? Yeah, I know; 
     there are more accidental shootings from 
          guns on family than on feared invaders. 
Preciado cautions, ”Our disappearance, 
     though certain, is only relatively im-
          minent.” So, take it easy, breathe deeply 
and enjoy what time you have left and 
     even though being called names really 
          does hurt and sticks and stones may break 
bones, yet, will I trust my creator even 
     as I plead my case before that eternal 
          lover, the only one who could utterly 
obliterate me, but who I trust never would,
     so, if they come, open the door, take them 
          a plate of cookies, but be sure to wear a mask. 
No sense testing fate. 

The following was forwarded to me by a friend:

As the world fights to figure everything out: Biden, Trump, COVID, BLM, Life…I’ll be holding doors for strangers, letting people cut in front of me in traffic, keeping babies entertained in grocery lines, stopping to talk to someone who is lonely, tipping generously, sharing food, giving children a thumbs-up, being patient with sales clerks, smiling at passersby.

WHY? Because I will not stand to live in a world where love is invisible. Join me in showing kindness, understanding, and judging less. Be kind to a stranger, give grace to people who may be having a bad day, foster or adopt a pet!!!  And be forgiving with yourself.

If you can’t find kindness, BE kindness.

Lead with LOVE is my motto

John Winthrop, preacher of the “City on a Hill”
sermon, “claimed the Puritans had a special pact

with God to create a new, holy community. He also
claimed that the rich had a holy duty to look after

the poor.” While “looking after the poor” reeks
of white, Anglo-European paternalism and con-

descension, the Puritans seemingly completely lost
sight of Rev. Winthrop’s “holy duty” admonition.

Condescension ain’t great but the “holy duty” is better
than nothing and we are still looking for that lost “duty,”

but there still is the “Sorry, Charlie,” sign in sign
language at the bottom of the hill for the Indians.

*quote from The Writer’s Almanac, Jan. 12, 2021

Did they not have stories read or sung to 
     them when they were little, like lullabies 
          when they were in the crib and colorful, 
story books in their little beds? Did they 
     not hear the fairy tales and later did they 
          not read Raul and C.S. and J.R.R.? And 
the poems, the sing-song poems filled 
     with fun and wonder? Were they not able 
          to blend those stories with their emerging 
stories? Did their parents not walk them 
     in nature so they could talk to the trees 
          and scamper with the rabbits and hear the 
melodies of the birds as the beautiful
     birds sang their stories? Did they not get 
          their feet wet in the creek and watch the 
fish swim by and hear their parents tell 
     them that one day they would swim with the 
          fish? And as they got older, did they not 
hear the wonderful stories of faith, the 
     blending of the eternal verities of myths 
          with history? Was there no context except
being rocked in the cradle of resentments, 
     blame, fear, finger-pointing, scapegoating 
          inherited from those who themselves had never 
really heard the sacred stories of life? How 
     can they ever know the beautiful, glorious 
          children of love they are without the stories?
 
*idea from a meditation by Richard Rohr, 01/10/2020

the disease unto death,
the profound illness,
circulates and permeates.
breathe in all the hurt and harm,
all the alarm,
all the fear, the great fear.
let it draw near.
be not afraid
it has been said.
when it is there,
right there,
take it in, deeply.
with arms outstretched.
let the devil’s deception
meet open palms reception.
fill your whole soul.
hold it, hold it, hold it
and then let the sin of
the world go
for the sake of the creation,
for the sake of your
brothers and sisters,
for the sake of jesus,
buddha, lao tzu
and, yes, of course, you, too.

His expectations
of others
are fraughtfully
and rightfully filled

with hesitations,
for without that hesitate,
expectation

is a very lonely place
in which to sit and wait.

With no expectations,
he won’t need hesitations;
he won’t just sit and wait;

he’ll get on with good things
to do, without regrets,

before it is too late.

I saw the crazy guy inside the 
Capitol Rotunda with his tattoos, 
Daniel Boone cap and Viking horns

and it were the horns that really 
caught my attention.  The guy?
He’s a looney-toon, 32-year-old 

actor from Phoenix. The horns? 
I guess symbols of white, male 
aggression, violence, supremacy. 

I am about 50% Scandinavian and 
while I have never known very much 
about my roots, I have mythologized 

what they are and therefore who I 
am, but, actually I’m thinking about 
the Scandinavia I hear about today — 

world’s happiest people, environment-
ally aware, peace loving. Back to 
the horns. Symbols of savagery. I 

am the son of Gust. I guess that 
would make me a Gustafson even 
though I was told my name was 

Hanson before some ancestor changed 
it to what it is today for reasons
never explained. While I love my 

long-deceased father, I actually 
like my baptism name better — 
child of God, brother and friend 

of Jesus; you know — Jesus, the 
Middle-Eastern, dark-skinned guy 
who is the wonderful window into 

the universal, inclusive, grace-
filled Spirit of peace and love. 
Actually, I think my hornless 

father would have liked that.
Probably my long-gone wooden-
shoe wearing Dutch mother, too.  

I read the meditations and the poems
     in my inbox;
I started the coffee;
I sat down on the big ottoman of the big 
     chair the Chocolate Lab knows as hers
     and where she slept after her breakfast;
I petted her;
I reclined putting my head on a big arm of the big chair; 
I stroked her big, beautiful, brown body;
I petted her head and she kissed my hand.
Only then, only then, did I have the courage 
     to go back to the computer and 
     revisit the horror known as yesterday.

To counter the present permeating fear
     he said that while it isn’t all that clear, 
          it can’t be anymore ineffective
than the spewing of all the invective.
     And so, when encountering anyone
          he will say behind the mask, here is a daughter/son 
— Beloved Child of God — divinity to laud. 
     And he will bow humbly in that 
          permeating presence of God. 

*idea from a meditation by Henri Nouwen

everyday we make choices —
do I go up, do I go down
do I go all around?
sometimes those choices
are very, very hard
to make
because things could break,
will break, have to break.
you can’t get at what is inside
without breaking the seal;
if the cancer is there,
it has to be removed
before it consumes
and destroys
everything.
to leave it
would be unethical,
immoral — unless,
unless, unless. yes,
there are choices
to be made.
life is not easy;
there are always
choices.
you can’t get the
truth without
cracking the code;
the egg is in your
hand;
do you get the yoke?
well, of course not.
you can’t get the yoke
without cracking the
shell.