BUU Prime Time
August 24
Daybreak is the few moments of rising light and building energy. As the sun rises, and night becomes day, we enter into the classical monastic period known as “Prime.” If you rise to greet the sun or whenever it is that you rise, that is your Prime Time.
Rev. Matthew offers his early morning reflection below.
Rev. Matthew offers his early morning reflection below.
Give Voice to Mourning
by the Rev. Lindasusan Ulrich
Give voice to sorrow and fear -- the wracking sobs at family betraying family the shock at the chasm separating neighbors “What will you do in the days ahead?” one asked. “Hide in an attic,” another replied, her eyes as wide and dark as Anne Frank’s. Already the assaults on bodies have launched Already hatred has been emboldened Already graffiti has defaced stone walls Already harassment of the “Other” has begun When someone announces they’re coming for you, your worry doesn’t spring from paranoia. It’s based on the evidence of history. Give voice to denial and bargaining -- the claustrophobic panic, desperate for a way out, clinging to any path that might alter the outcome “Where we live we’ll be okay,” one says. “Who do you mean by ‘we’?” another asks. You suppress the disorienting sense that you’ve fallen into the opening of a dystopian novel, calming yourself that everything must turn out okay because the narrator is alive to recount the tale, ignoring the blankness of the next page. Give voice to anger and rage -- that truth and kindness mattered so little that vitriol poisoned the community well “They will try to use your goodness against you,” one said. “And rely on your reasonableness to accept the unacceptable,” another added. Retain your goodness and your reason but always keep sight of the larger picture and the deeper values calling to you. Let your passion for justice burn but not consume. Give voice to acceptance and hope -- this is where we are this is our new reality “For some,” said one, “the world we awoke to on November 9th was not much different than the one we’d been living in.” “Except,” said another, “that more people were woke to it.” Already organizing is taking place Already creativity and solidarity are sending out tendrils Already resistance and resilience are storing themselves up Already signs of love are picking up speed When someone announces they’re coming for you, you find your people you find your fearlessness and you don’t let go. |