I don’t know about you but as I came to the end of this past week I realized that I am absolutely exhausted. I don’t mean to say that I am physically exhausted or even that I am mentally exhausted. Rather I find that I am spiritually exhausted.
The events of the last weeks and months have taken a toll on my prayer life. It feels heavy and burdensome rather than light and easy as the gospel this Sunday says. I admit that the scenes in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, and here in the US have left me wondering What good are my prayers doing? How or when will this slaughter of innocents end? Where is God? I have cried out with the Psalmist “how long O Lord, how long?”
I have swung from wanting to gather all of the USA and world leaders together and jerk a knot in their heads - to feeling as though despair would overtake me. I have tried to put it out of my mind – turn off the news, get off social media, and play like my little world is the center of the universe and all of that stuff out there has nothing to do with me. But truth be told none of that helped. The world is still full of hate and fear. People - who have done nothing wrong except to be born into a world where their “kind” are disregarded as worthless - are exploited, tortured, and killed. Women and children, the disabled, and the elderly continue to take the brunt of the suffering and the abuse. And whether I like it or not, I find myself daily assessing the risks to my own safety. And yet I know deep in my soul that God does not intend that any part of creation should live in fear. It is just that sometimes God’s Kingdom is really illusive – hard to pin down - lost from sight in the darkness that encompasses us.
This week we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country we all love. But the symbols of our country have been retooled into objects of propaganda for some sort of patriotic religion. This weekend I will remind my grandchildren and our “church children” that the red, white and blue of our flag were defined by an act of Congress when our founders established the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. Author and historian, Jane Hampton Cook writes: “Congress defined the flag’s colors for the first time and gave the nation seven inspirational virtues that remain relevant. The colors of the pales [stripes] are those used in the flag of the United States of America,” the Journal of the Continental Congress recorded on June 20, 1782. White signifies purity and innocence. Red [means] hardiness and valor and Blue … signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice.”
Purity, valor, and justice… I think that will preach….
Buen Camino and Happy Fourth of July,
Mother Jane
