Resistance and Struggle

Beloved Light Bearers,

Thank you for staying with the "first two days" of our virtual series, Holy Discomfort and Profound Hope, the days of Resistance and Struggle.  It is not easy.  Indeed, it is deeply uncomfortable.  But the truth and the grace of life is that we are not stuck here, and that perhaps these first two days will open us up, deepen our perception, to new possibilities.

On the "third day" --- and yes, do you hear some echoes here with any other pattern with which you may be familiar?  Ha!-- we begin to move into Profound Hope.  That will be our movement in our next gathering, on Thursday, March 27.

Below are links for some of the rich variety of offerings our community has brought forward to share with one another thus far.  Some of the offerings I will bring forward a little down the road.  I know there is an abundance.  So pick and choose what holds resonance for you at this moment. I invite you to respond, reflect, and share further resources in the comments here on the blog.

In the meantime, I share with you a video offered by one of our folks.  It is a taize song that can help us to hold the space in the midst of all things.

Let Nothing Disturb You

Let nothing disturb you,
let nothing frighten you,
all things will pass away.
God never changes;
patience obtains all things,
whoever has God lacks nothing.
God alone suffices. Amen.
--St Theresa of Avila

​Here's a link to the sung version in Spanish, "Nada Te Turbe," on Youtube: https://youtu.be/FgtNVMsLU0E

Other resources: 

Jillian Pranksy

"When we land, arrive, and relax, we create space.  In this space is the power to choose our response, in which is our growth and freedom.  It is our experience of aliveness." - Jillian Pransky

I consider Jillian to be one of my most important mentors and teachers regarding how to walk, be, and take action in the midst of the choas.  She is who taught me LARLAR.  
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​Jillian's website is here: https://www.jillianpransky.com/.
​She also wrote a wonderful book, Deep Listening: A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart.

Victor Frankl

"Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Victor Frankl

Victor Frankl was a neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and holocaust survivor. 

"The Guest House"
by Rumi

Text translation by Coleman Barks: https://grateful.org/resource/guest-house-rumi/
Artistic interpretation by Zen Pencils: https://www.zenpencils.com/comic/rumi/

Ladder to the Light:
​An Indigenous Elder's Meditations on Hope and Courage 
by The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston 

"In the same voice that has comforted and challenged countless readers through his daily social media posts, Choctaw elder and Episcopal priest Steven Charleston offers words of hard-won hope, rooted in daily conversations with the Spirit and steeped in Indigenous wisdom."

​​There is a poem, as well as a paragraph at the top of page 63 that spoke to some of our participants:

What Is Holy Is Not Tame

I have seen the Spirit moving behind the gathering clouds
With wings the color of rainbows.

I have watched the light of creation split the sky
As angels pound the drums of heaven.

What is holy is not what is tame
What is divine is as wild as desert rain.

Love is not a timid breeze but a storm of change
Sweeping the comfortable before it like leaves

Blowing the dust off our ordered lives
Challenging us to dare the elements of our own vision.

What is holy is not what is tame
So when you stand to pray, stand facing the wind.

"WE WILL NOT PRETEND.  We will not give up, go away, or be quiet.  We will remain here, standing in the way of the victory parade, spoiling the photo op, embarrassing the guests at the penthouse party.  We will continue to resist oppression.  We will not allow society to return to a culture of closets.  We will not pretend that this is the best of all ecological worlds.  We do not think we have all the answers, but we will never stop asking questions.  We are the quiet people of the center, the struggling people of the margins, the determined survivors of the bottom rung.  We are the new community of faith, unified by a shared vision of human dignity, strengthened by a common belief in the power of love.  Until history moves toward justice we will not give up, go away or be quiet." (p. 63)

Rage Prayers
by The Rev. Elizabeth Ashman Riley

"Rage Prayers is a provocative invitation to smash the confines of “polite” prayer and find peace through a candid dialogue with the divine."

Two prayers in particular were shared by one of our participants:

​False Prophets (p. 97)

Draped in promises and hope,
Salvation is touted by many
Using Your name, manipulating Your hope,
Warping your promise.

My God, why do you allow 
So many to hurt and abuse
In your name?

Where is yuour power to quell the voices
Of those peddling poison 
And calling it miraculous?

Lamenting, raging, we cry
Against the wounds born by the innocent
At the hands of false prophets
And the chasm they wedge
​Between humanity and the Holy.

Anxiety (p. 30)

Holiness of the multitudes,
Holder of all things,
The unknown swirls within me,
Unsettling my spirit and my soul.
My mind chases itself, seeking a foothold,
Yearning for safety.
The unrest of the unknown and the unknowable
Nips at my heels and draws my whole focus
Warping my view, clouding my perspective, 
Flooding my being, stealing my joy.
In the grasping for a spot of security,
May you illumine some place where I may pause
Even for a moment -- on surefooted ground.
Give me steadiness, soothe my spirit, 
And help me find peace.

What's True Here:
​New Poems and Other Writings
Danna Faulds

Danna writes, "...I've used the question 'What's true here?' to fuel and focus my daily meditations and that inquiry practice sparked many of the writings you'll find inside. Like life itself, every book is a journey, and this one is no exception. I've chosen to include poems from all facets of my experience -- inner, outer, dark, light, the highs, the lows, and all the territory in between."
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​As always, a deep bow of gratitude to you for your presence on this journey. 
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​And as always, much love and many prayers,
​
Julia