September 2, 2020

I woke up this morning with ‘news reel’ images crossing my mind. I wasn’t happy that they were there but I checked myself and my feelings were calm. Yesterday on Youtube I listened to Lorie Ladd and she explained in these times it is like we are on one of those flat escalators like in the airports. We are being moved forward and can look out at what we are passing by but we remain moving forward. We can even have differing opinions with others on the escalator but still we move forward and are separate from what is going on outside of the escalator.

So, this morning as the images were moving by in my mind I put my attention on an image of fireworks being shot at a high rise building. I had seen this on Twitter with the comment that rioters in Portland were now going after the Governor’s residence. This seems to be a regular thing that the rioters also go after the officials that appear to be the ones supporting and/or protecting the criminal behavior with the liberal justice systems they are trying to deploy.

I thought, why would the protestors do this? I then thought, they want to be punished; ultimately they want to break out of this game and find their true selfs. Integrity and authenticity. Perhaps they are looking for something or someone outside of themselves to come down on them and make it all stop, this mad world that feels totally wrong.

As I was up going to pee I thought of the videoI saved on Facebook of the crying little girl with the wonderful Mom. I thought I should share that with the post – the children of each generation (that are alive now) need to hear this.

You are loved. You are beautiful. You are worthy.

September 13

Last month I saw a post on Facebook of the Maya Angelo quote “When people show you who they are, believe them.” This quote never sat well with me because I see it being a limitation on the belief that someone can transform. I believe is resurrection power!

I also make the judgement that people who use this quote are saying that people can’t change and that perhaps they hold back on forgiveness. I have no evidence that this is true so this is why I am saying it’s my judgement.

So, I’ve been mulling this over for a few weeks and it has grown into thoughts about justice. I still spend way too much time on Twitter. People speak about all the crimes that have been hidden that are starting to be revealed in politics, finances, human trafficking … on and on. I see these possibilities for these things but when people start speaking of the punishments that should be dolled out if these things are true, I turn away.

An eye for an eye never worked. Here we are 2000 years past Jesus the Christ and we still haven’t understood what he tried to teach us. There is another way. I can feel myself reaching to grasp it. Understanding it plays at the fringes of my mind. The energy of it is just beyond the reach of my fingers.

Come into my heart. You are welcome.

This week Fr. Rohr’s newsletter spoke about ‘restorative justice’. I feel this is the direction I need to go with my reflections. And, perhaps with our society as a whole.

September 18

I like what Fr. Rohr said this morning about thee wounded healer. He spoke of Christianity being based on the image of a broken bleeding man. He spoke about us humans as receiving pain and then sending it back out, needing someone to blame. Our very smart God came to us to bring an avatar in our image (we like to make God in our image so he used the same tool.)

Fr. Rohr said that humans are like electrical wire, a shock goes in and come right back. But Jesus was like a wire connected to a transformer on a utility pole, able to take in the shock (big power), hold it and transform it into something good and useful. Transformation. <3