The Gates of Hope
Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope
Not the prudent gates of Optimism,
Which are somewhat narrower.
Not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense;
Nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness,
(People cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through)
Nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of
“Everything is gonna’ be all right.”
But a different, sometimes lonely place,
The place of truth-telling,
About your own soul first of all and its condition.
The place of resistance and defiance,
The piece of ground from which you see the world
Both as it is and as it could be
As it will be;
The place from which you glimpse not only struggle,
But the joy of the struggle.
And we stand there, beckoning and calling,
Telling people what we are seeing
Asking people what they see.
(Rev. Victoria Safford)
American Song
Imperfect, in struggle, contested, more than one voice at a time. Onward, multi –
American song, American psalm.
A single voice raised, then another. We must tell the truth about our history.
How did we get here and where do we go?
Walk toward freedom. Work toward freedom. Believe in beloved community.
We are not yet close enough to heaven.
Aspire to song. Aspire to the lift
of voices joined to make a mighty noise.
What are the luminous, sacred words?
Courage, evolve, freedom, community, truth, trust, love, peace, yes, why, agape.
American song, American prayer.
All of our voices combined into song. Sing sacred words, true and just.
May this portal be where the light comes in.
(c. 2023 Elizabeth Alexander)
end of the day on the last day of September....i've written a lot this month (for the chaplaincy certification thing.) it was therapeutic in a way....but i'm written out. and woefully aware of my own lacks:) Posting some new and meaningful to me words. 1st reading was posted by a newish fb friend who was one of my favorite counseling professors back in the day. Fb is good for something, i guess! American Song was part of the presentation of the new windows in the National Cathedral (replacing the confederate ones.) i'm astounded by this writing.
only 3 months left of this year......
