those that destroy, inevitably – given enough time – destroy themselves.
how can anyone work so tirelessly against life and not in time only know death?
our job, is to keep pointing to, embodying, & honoring life in ourselves & others, to heal, comfort, tend to, serve, & love, even as some seek to destroy. in this way, we strengthen our own hope as we see the good we & others are able to do, & we give inspiration for others to have hope as well, as they see the good work of love that is possible.
may it not be lost on us that in the resurrection story Jesus appears not as some figure floating in the clouds, but first seemingly unrecognizable to Mary Magdalene near the tomb as a gardener, & then on the road as a stranger to the disciples, & as a fisherman on the shore to a crowd. how interesting that he also taught that Christ could be found & loved in the least of these, that whatever we do unto others, we have done unto him, that loving God is akin to loving our neighbors as our ourselves. the love of God seems to always be relational & incarnational, not found in the clouds, but found right here in & on the earth, on the shore, eating & drinking with others, healed but retaining the scars of our wounds. could it be that love is so encompassing of all things, even death? indeed, the resurrection story is saying so. i believe so & nature itself seems to say so in its own patterns, as night transitions into day, & winter into spring. yet it isn’t quite the end of the story because Christ continues to be crucified in the persecuted & those that suffer, & Christ also continues to rise in the hearts of all those who open their hearts to love, who see Christ in all things & love all things without exception. astonishingly, it also seems that we are invited into this very pattern, to not only participate, but to embody such love. what a hopeful message!
may we do so in this challenging time, for the benefit of all.
a light in the darkness. the tables of power flipped – scandalous & threatening. “love your neighbor…love your enemy…blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God…whatever you have done to the least of these you have done unto me…Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” i wonder if Jesus’ words hung in the air that day as his body hung on the cross. how astonishing it must have been & is still to see how far love is willing to go, blameless yet in solidarity with the blamed & suffering, with those cast out to the margins, defeated, broken, seemingly powerless by the standards of empire…the suffering servant.
a far cry from the imagery & language lifted up in the most adorned halls & behind the most elevated podiums of a warrior Christ. empire cannot comprehend the paradox of power hidden in such powerlessness, blind to the Ultimate hidden in the relative, the Wholeness hidden in duality, the abiding Suchness hidden in impermanence. empire is blind to Christ. yet, here we are, with those who have abandoned Christ for empire, where the name Jesus falls easily from lips, even as the very people Jesus called us to love & serve are attacked in rhetoric & policy – the hungry, poor, sick, imprisoned, the foreigner & stranger – Christ in the least of these. not seeing Christ again crucified in the mouth unfed, the body unclothed, the sick abandoned, the immigrant brutalized & disappeared, the trans person dehumanized, in the bodies buried in the rubble of war. what good are praises & tithes offered with one hand, when the other hand is around the neck of another child of God, of Life, of Love? we are more comfortable with law than love, with vengeance than restorative justice, with individual salvation than collective liberation, with war than peace, with crucifixion than an empty tomb. may Jesus’ words once again hang in the air on this Good Friday, & may we have ears to hear.
“Perhaps peace is not, after all, something you work for, or ‘fight for.’ It is indeed ‘fighting for peace’ that starts all the wars…Peace is something you have or do not have.
If you are yourself at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace.”
welcoming & loving our neighbors w/ food assistance, healthcare, shelter, normalizing rule of law & constitution, diplomacy, de-escalation, consistent view on human rights, w/ out exclusion, keeping religion & state power separate while allowing all to worship or practice as they feel called.
sometimes it feels like another life & i miss it deeply. but my heart is also overwhelmed with gratitude for the meaning, the community, the joy & laughter, & the whole range of human experience that theater has gifted to me in my life. i can’t imagine what my life would have been without acting & theatre. it is truly uniquely magical.
we may not know it from looking at our leaders, but we’re not obligated to act on our every worst or non-beneficial impulse. we don’t have to act out of fear, anger, or greed. there are no trophies for vengeance, just destruction & death. we can come to all that arises with practice, be the observer of our thoughts, of our emotional landscape. allowing thoughts & emotions to arise, & then fall away. we don’t have to cling to them or go in the direction they may lead. that allowing of space is an act of love, of generosity, & courage. ultimately, it demonstrates strength & a power greater than is displayed when we are reactive & act out without mindfulness or self-discipline.
The Metta Garden 