blessings abound...

Like President Obama, I am concerned about the current state of American democracy. Like other mystics throughout the world, I worry about the rise of nativism and spiritualities of fear and vengeance all over creation. And at the same time, my trust in God - my commitment to a  hope born of expectant waiting, the steadfast love of the Lord that endures forever, and the pattern of life, death, and resurrection built into the fabric of Mother Earth - is equally vibrant. Octavia Butler put it like this:

When apparent stability disintegrates,
As it must —
God is Change —
People tend to give in
To fear and depression,
To need and greed.
When no influence is strong enough
To unify people
They divide.
They struggle,
One against one,
Group against group,
For survival, position, power.
They remember old hates and generate new ones,
They create chaos and nurture it.
They kill and kill and kill,
Until they are exhausted and destroyed,
Until they are conquered by outside forces,
Or until one of them becomes
A leader
Most will follow,
Or a tyrant
Most fear.

Every day, therefore, I feast. And wait. And listen. And love. And pray. And study. And attend to the garden. Today I worked in our small garden with my grandson and later sat on rocks in a stream with him talking about the approach of a new year in school in NYC. He worries about me and the Covid virus because, "Remember, Gwad, you're old and I don't want you to die."  Life does not get any better than this...