Usually, those evangelizing compassion do not write about politics, and sometimes they veer into passivity. We need to confront an unjust, ecocidal system. …We must not shy away from those confrontations. I see the question as staying engaged instead of enraged.
Making a pot is not really that different to making a life. We need to match the right glaze with the body on which it rests, flows, gathers, pools and shimmers in Go(o)d Light.
But here’s the thing – we need to do more than stand for something. We need to move with it, too.
My apocalyptic moment happened at a computer desk in a tiny studio apartment in the northern reaches of Manhattan, amid a clutter of papers and half-empty coffee cups. But it was no less earth-shattering than if an angel with a flaming sword showed up at the door delivering the news.
In my own life, and perhaps in yours, I find that I have an unqualified tour guide in my head when I am not living a balanced, centered and prayerful life.
There is a spirituality, a deep spirituality, that occurs in walking. It is the reason Jesus walked into Jerusalem. It is the reason some pilgrims walk the el Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It is the reason we walk today. We find God in our walking.
The truth is we are not safe. Those words are difficult to write but it is true. Many, many like me, chose to enter the church or a monastery because we were seeking a safe place in which to be protected and nurtured, when in fact that has never been its role.
But “God” is only a word helpful in speaking of God with others – like a sort of code, the way “WALK” and “EAT” mean something to Kai. It gets a job done. But that entity we call “God” is, while decreasing in vocabulary, increasing exponentially in immanence and intimacy.
Luci and Jordan continue their journey through the beginning of First Samuel