.know others, know thyself.

"In the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone, the unseen singing softly to itself and to you."
(rachel naomi remen)

[School is keeping me busy. One of these days I will post something of significance. Until then, enjoy these other bits of significance.]

.holiness and truth.

"I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination." 

(john keats)

.motion movement.

                  


(Apparently videos are my new thing... Though I'm not apologizing because I'm finding that media is an effective/important method of communication...And music has become more and more sacred as I have discovered good music/poetry/Scripture...)


So I have posted this song before. I don't recall the context, but nonetheless, it's worth revisiting (over... and over...) The lyrics can be found here if you want to read along.


This song is/can be about a lot of things. But for me it is about two: physical movement and social movement(s). The last line of the first stanza and the chorus say this:


Each individual reach out, speak to teach the invisible how to be invincible
Motion, movement
Architects, blueprints
Showing, grooving
Teachers, students
Reaching for truth in a self-revolution
The roof is on fire, what's your solution?

Like I said, physical and social. As a student at Pacific School of Religion, I am constantly learning about ways in which to uplift and transform the lives of the marginalized, the invisible (as the Blue Scholars say). And I'm learning, even more, that in "reaching for truth in a self-revolution," my solution is in transforming and being transformed through relationship. In my evangelism class this week we have had lots of conversation regarding how to do evangelism by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8). Perhaps evangelism and justice are one in the same for it is in acts of justice, mercy and love that we usher people into the Kin-dom of God, the reign of God on earth as it is in Heaven. Here's the deal...

This justice is not about getting butts in the seats.

This justice is not about converting or saving souls. 

This justice is not about church growth. 

This justice is not about doing kind things that make you feel good. 

This justice is not about condemning or shaming. 

Nope.

This justice is about showing love through relationships and story-telling. 
This justice is about ourselves-in-relation, as Carter Heyward would say. 
This justice is about doing love in public, as Cornel West would have it. 
This justice is about making the invisible invincible through the love of God in Jesus Christ. 
This justice is about forging strangers into neighbors. 


This justice is about the roof being on fire because this justice is needed this very minute. 


People are in dire straits, struggling to see love in their life. Their families have abandoned them. They have abandoned their families for fear of abuse and danger. People have lost hope because every last thing has gone wrong. People are looking for something to bring light and renewed energy into their life. I am not one of those Christians that believes Jesus is the only way to live your life. But I believe he brings me into fullness and has transformed my life. This is why sharing stories is so important. It is my hope that in telling my story and building relationships from the bottom up, transformation can happen. Maybe it isn't about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for someone else. 


But I will tell that/my story/ies all day long.


Sometimes being a witness to a testimony is enough. 
Sometimes seeing a friendly face is enough. 
Sometimes being shown the love of God in a random act of kindness is enough. 


Whatever it is, it is in those moments that the invisible (spiritually/ physically/ mentally /emotionally/ sexually/ economically/ etc.) can be made invincible. It is in the power of the love of God to transform lives through our supportive, nurturing, sustained relationships. 


Sometimes we're the motion, sometimes the movement. 
Sometimes as architects we build, other times just the blueprint.
Sometimes it's our job to show, other times it's our job to show up and just groove. 
Sometimes we're the teachers, but mostly, I think we're the students. 


No matter what/who/where we are, we know Whose we are. And because of that relationship, we will always find ourselves reaching for (T)ruth(s). 

The roof is on fire, 
what's YOUR solution?

.MLK+.

I didn't get enough MLK on MLK day, did you?

Probably not, so here's some more words from the Prophet himself as spoken by DJ Jay Smooth.

.hope embodied.

there were people there of/with
titles/stature/prominence
black/brown/white/beautiful skin color(s)
lower/middle/upper class status(es)
broken/uplifted spirits
people who have come a long way
and people who have not

in most places/spaces/times
people who preach
"the children are our future"
crumble beneath their words
of discrimination towards young people
creating victims of the trauma
of ageism

but today

the most honest parts of the service,
the times that brought people to their knees
were that of the Youth
and the recognition
(by applause and hollering)
of them by the "adults"
(whatever that means)

it always seems to be that
those who are not given
enough (if any) time/love/space,
in any corner of the world,
shine the most.

speaking words beyond his years
preaching truth and hope and light
into the ears of those who know
struggle and pain,

though only heard in a 5 minute speech,
his passion and dedication is beyond compare.

his hope to be a role model
his hope to be the president
his hope for his friends to be better citizens
was/is all a part of his plan for our world

our collective world
in which we/you/i
live/breathe/have being
together,
young and old.

he spoke of King,
of experience had
and experience(s) to come
he spoke of the dreams of his
ancestors
that became reality/ies.

he spoke of faith, as expressed by King.
"faith is taking the first step
even when you don't see the whole
staircase,"
he reminded us
seemingly faithful people

but the faith he preached
wasn't something of the Unseen
but that of/in the Youth.
don't give up on the young people,
he said.
have faith that they too may
change the world.

guide them
love them
hold them
he/i said/say.

for they hold power beyond compare.
for they have wisdom of many years
for they have voices

for they (truly) are our future.