It's about 11pm as I write this. My household has been asleep for two hours. Meanwhile I, who have been crashing into bed early for weeks, am restless. Something stirs in me, so my fingers rest on the keyboard, prepared to work out whatever it is that's keeping me awake.
The last few weeks--ever since the crisis in Gaza escalated--have been a nightmare. I can't get the people of God out of my head. Which people? All of them. We all belong to God--we all belong to the cosmos. And yet we treat each other like villains, or sewer rodents, or mold on our bathroom tile. My heart has agonized over the global lie that "we" are better than "them," "I" am better than "you," "my people" are worthier than "those people." The world is in a terrifying, seething rage, and meanwhile I carry on as usual with my daily responsibilities. What else can I do? What can a white woman in Tempe do for a dead black man in Ferguson? What can an American adult do for an orphaned, dying Palestinian child? What can a religious person here do for a Yazidi there? The world needs to be swept up by peace, and the same old same old isn't going to make it so. I see beautiful ideas for religious renewal that might do some good, and I see also that the needs of the world require something deeper than beauty. I write this for myself. I write it for others whose hearts are breaking from the weight of the world's anger. I write it for those who haven't found a way to break through their own disillusionment and tiredness. I write it for those who have broken through. I want to know what's working. And I want to figure out what I can do. Because I can't just sit around. And I can't sleep, either. Help me, because my imagination is failing: beyond praying and hoping and waiting for people to come to their senses, what can we do?
3 Comments
|
|