Daily Devotion - May 26
I will send a brief message each day (except Mondays)
while we are pausing gathering in person.
- Kara
- Kara
I asked Rev. Jenny Warner, from Valley Presbyterian, in Portola Valley, California, if I could share this poem she wrote on Sunday. She said yes, and then said she'd just shared something I wrote too. One thing I am loving about this time is those moments the Church feels bigger, feels more like it really is. I'm seeing people supporting each other beyond our own lives and communities, finding connection and inspiration all over, and bringing it to each other.
What I love about Jenny's poem is that it feels brave and daring to use "love" in this way. I don't love this time. It's easy to feel like I don't love anything about this time. I am enduring this time, finding moments of contentment, and even glimpses of joy, in this time. But loving?? No.
But when I ask myself, "What do I love about this time?" I feel a different kind of space open up in me. And I made myself write it above, "One thing I am loving about this time..." It shows me that there actually are things I can say next. It makes me want to spend more time with that prompt. It makes me view my day with a little more curiosity, a tiny bit more openness to wonderment and gift. I am grateful for the possibilities that arise there.
What I love about Jenny's poem is that it feels brave and daring to use "love" in this way. I don't love this time. It's easy to feel like I don't love anything about this time. I am enduring this time, finding moments of contentment, and even glimpses of joy, in this time. But loving?? No.
But when I ask myself, "What do I love about this time?" I feel a different kind of space open up in me. And I made myself write it above, "One thing I am loving about this time..." It shows me that there actually are things I can say next. It makes me want to spend more time with that prompt. It makes me view my day with a little more curiosity, a tiny bit more openness to wonderment and gift. I am grateful for the possibilities that arise there.
What I love about the masks
Is they are a visible indication
Of an internal decision to protect,
to guard,
to say your safety is more important
than my lipstick
or even my smile.
What I love about six feet apart
is that I see you
and I honor the space you may need
to remain whole,
to celebrate the next milestone,
to feel my reverence
at your very being.
What I love about staying home
is that your unvarnished face
has become more beautiful.
Your presence,
the never deserved,
but always welcomed
declaration of a Good creation.
May all of this distance
be a drawing near.
That I may guard your soul
as I guard the droplets flying from my mouth.
May this distance
create a sacred seat in my soul,
always awaiting your arrival.
Another child of Grace
seeking wholeness,
finding a little more peace,
knowing your blinding glory.
CONNECTING RITUAL:
Perhaps tonight before bed, whatever time that is in each of our homes, we and so join our souls with each other and the people of the whole earth:
God, here's what I hate about this time:
I hate... because I am longing for...
I hate.... because I am longing for...
I hate... because I am longing for...
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy on me.
Tend my soul in my sorrow.
Give me grace for myself in my grief.
God, it all comes back to love.
Even what I hate points me back to love,
by showing me what I care deeply about,
and reminding me of the gift of living.
My life is a gift.
So, God, here's what I love about this time:
I love.... because...
I love... because...
I love... because...
God, thank you. Christ, keep my soul in your love.
Thank you, Lord.
Amen.
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