Bikehiker

ONE OF GOD'S CHILDREN
Madeleine L'Engle ponders the wonder of the universe...and God's love for us

WATCH FOR THE LIGHT. Throughout Advent, I'm reading Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. It contains writings from some of my favorite spiritual writers and activists--Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Henri Nouwen, etc. I'm reading from a library copy I've checked out, but because it's so rich in insight, it's on my Christmas wish list. Watch for the Light has an extended reading each day of A from a different writer.

THE GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE. Today's reflection is by Madeleine L'Engle. L'Engle's well-known as a fiction and fantasy writer (A Wrinkle In Time). One of my favorites by L'Engle is The Glorious Impossible, illustrated with colorful frescoes from the Scrovengi Chapel by Giotto. The Glorious Impossible is an excellent Christmas gift (thanks for my copy, Bill Trimble!).

In her reflection in Watch for the Light, L'Engle puts creation, the Incarnation and our place in this universe into perspective. The following is little excerpt drawn from the heart of her piece. Think about this next time you're out at night and see the stars across the vast sky.
I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY?
Before we frolic a little too flippantly through the season, hear William Stringfellow

PREMATURE FROLICKING. "For all the greeting card and sermonic rhetoric, I do not think that much rejoicing happens around Christmastime, least of all about the coming of the Lord. There is, I notice, a lot of holiday frolicking, but that is not the same as rejoicing. In any case, maybe outbursts of either frolicking or rejoicing are premature, if John the Baptist has credibility. He identifies repentance as the message and sentiment of Advent."

NOT JUST PERSONAL REPENTANCE. "In context, in the biblical accounts (Matthew 3 and Luke 3), the repentance of which John the Baptist preaches is no private or individualistic effort, but the disposition of a person is related to the reconciliation of the whole of creation. 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

PRODUCE THE FRUIT OF REPENTANCE. "The pioneer Christians...knew that the message of both Advents is political. That message is that in the coming of Jesus Christ, the nations and the principalities and the rulers of the world are judged in the Word of God. In the lordship of Christ they are rendered accountable to human life and, indeed, to all created life. Hence, the response of John the Baptist when he is pressed to show the meaning of the repentance he preaches is, 'Bear fruits that befit repentance.'" -- from A Keeper of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow, edited by Bill Wiley Kellermann (Eerdmans, 1994)

OVERWHELMED. Let not Stringfellow's words douse what little lightheartedness we may muster in anticipation of Christmas. Instead, may his effort to point to the Word of God overwhelm us. Let's not allow ourselves to waltz through Advent and into Christmas without falling before God in true repentance. And then, ever repentant and cleaving to the living Word of God, bear joyfully the burden of an unrepentant church, nation, and world in our hearts and through our prayers, words, and actions.

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

This photo has nothing to do with the post, except to show some frolicking. The photo appeared in the Indianapolis Star more than 30 years ago. It includes Becky (second from left) and her two sisters - Rachel (3rd) and Ruth (right)

ALONE AT CHRISTMAS
These holidays bring extra pain to some of our friends and neighbors…let’s be gracious and inclusive

AT OUR CLOTHING MINISTRY. The second Wednesday evening of each month is Clothing Ministry night at West Morris Street Free Methodist Church. I wish we were able to share more frequently, but it's a faithful expression of grace from our congregation for which I'm thankful. We begin with a common meal of soup and sandwiches prepared by volunteers. I lead in some singing, share a gospel story, and make announcements. Then neighbors select clothing they desire in the pantry. WEMO shares this act of hospitality with 50-60 neighborhood households monthly.

FESTIVE NIGHT...EXCEPT FOR ONE. In December, the Clothing Ministry is always festive, as it was a couple of years ago when a neighbor left a sad message. Christmas decorations and music warmed the dining room as about forty-five of us ate together. We all sang in a request-a-carol format, including some songs in Spanish with our Latino neighbors--about a third of those who gathered. In the pantry, new and gently used coats were added to the mix, items our Missions Commission had challenged the church to bring in. But at least one woman was overwhelmed by her aloneness in the midst of this well-intentioned evening. She left the following words written on the back of a paper placemat. She didn't sign her name.

Can no one see the pain? Can no one see me?
I must really be alone.
So sad. A mother's love. Brokenheartedness.
I drop to my knees and ask, "why me, God?
Why has my life been so hard?"
3 kids at 17 years. Married at 15 years.
Now, 36 years later, with my earthly father gone
no more than 3 weeks. What can I do?
My kids are all grown, except for one.
And on this Christmas, we don't have a home,
No Christmas lights, no more children's laughter.
Only tears, only tears.
Hurt for my drug-addicted boys.
Hurt for my daughter because I can no
longer give her what she needs.
Can no one see me?
Am I really all alone?

SINCE THEN. I’ve thought of this woman off and on since finding her note that night. I’ve prayed for her and her family. I’ve imagined more people that I encounter being in her shoes since then. I’ve tried to be more careful in my conversations with parishioners and neighbors regardless of apparent economic circumstances. I might not be able to provide housing, but I certainly know folks who can. I might not be able solve her problems but I want to be available for her to be listened to and heard…and prayed for. This woman represents to me the painful feelings of many that go unnoticed and unexpressed during this season. I want this awareness to continue to shape my understanding.

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

ADVENT SLEEPWALKING
Shifting gears into Advent may take some time...but, please, don't lollygag too long!

Advent begins
In a fog of unreadiness.
As if by dull surprise
Or in a twilight zone,
We groggily hang the greens.

Hardly with awareness
Much less anticipation
God’s people sleepwalk
Through the prophecies
And Annunciation.

We may finally stir
By the time children sing
“Away in a Manger”
The Sunday before Christmas,
Their raised voices spark
A light in our slumbering souls.

Is it only children and prophets
Who grasp the urgency,
Sense the passion;
Whose hearts are rended
And readied by the
Promise of Light shining
In the darkness?

Is it only to them that Advent
Becomes no mere repetition
Of myth-laden past events,
But days of embracing
The living Mystery,
The basis of all hope?

By God’s mercy and grace
Children and prophets are
Only the first to hear,
The first to recognize,
To proclaim that
It is indeed Mystery.

The Light ever dawns,
Beaming its rays into the
Eyes of even the groggiest saints,
The hardest sleeper
Among us.

Only those who refuse to rise
Amid many urgent shakings
And light flooding their beds
Sleep through the
Incarnation.

“Wake up, O sleeper,
Rise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

OPEN-ENDED WAITING
Advent challenges us to let go of wishes and start hoping

“I have found it very important in my own life to let go of my wishes and start hoping. It was only when I am willing to let go of my wishes that something really new, something beyond my own expectations, can happen to me. This is what Mary did..."

"To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. It is trusting that something will happen to us that is far beyond our own imaginings. It is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life. It is living with the conviction that God molds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, expecting new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination or prediction.”

– Henri Nouwen in The Path of Waiting

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

ACTIVE WAITING
Anticipation marks the Christian life and brings the future into reality

"Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for. We wait during Advent for the birth of Jesus. We wait after Easter for the coming of the Spirit, and after the ascension of Jesus we wait for his coming again in glory. We are always waiting, but it is a waiting in the conviction that we have already seen God's footsteps. Waiting for God is an active, alert - yes, joyful - waiting. As we wait we remember him for whom we are waiting, and as we remember him we create a community ready to welcome him when he comes."-- Henri Nouwen

TERROR AT THE TAJ

EUCHARIST
Thanksgiving Day, Sunday, and Monday -- a eucharist of life

I wrote this piece a few Thanksgivings ago, relating Thanksgiving to worship and daily living.

Thursday:

Gathered together with family and friends.
Sat down to turkey with all the trimmings.
Offered thanks for blessings seen and unperceived.
Pushed ourselves back after several helpings.
Sauntered outside to pass a football.
Played until we could not see the ball.
Headed back inside for a round of desserts.
Talked and told stories late into the evening.
Piled into the van and headed back home.
Collapsed into an exhausted, satisfied sleep.

Sunday:

Gathered together as families and neighbors.
Stood up to worship with all our senses.
Offered thanks for blessings seen and unperceived.
Pondered the preached Word's fresh helping.
Sang of the grace that is greater than our sin.
Prepared to share in the blessed Sacrament.
Headed down the aisle to kneel around the altar.
Took in the consecrated bread and wine.
Piled into the van and headed back home.
Contemplated anew the wonder of these blessings.

Monday:

Scattering apart as neighbors and laborers.
Standing up to serve with all our capacities.
Offering thanks for blessings seen and unperceived.
Pondering the interface of word and deed.
Singing of faithfulness even as our strength fails.
Playfully considering the sacredness of life.
Heading interactions in the direction of community.
Talking and telling stories as work is accomplished.
Plowing through traffic as we head back home.
Celebrating the fullness of life as a gift from God.

A LITANY OF THANKSGIVING
By Howard Thurman

Today, I make my Sacrament of Thanksgiving.
I begin with the simple things of my days:
Fresh air to breath,
Cool water to drink,
The taste of food,
The protection of houses and clothes,
The comforts of home.
For these, I make an act of Thanksgiving this day!

I bring to mind all the warmth of humankind that I have known:
My mother’s arms,
The strength of my father,
The playmates of my childhood,
The wonderful stories brought to me from the
lives of many who talked of days gone by
when fairies and giants and all kinds of
magic held sway;
The tears I have shed, the tears I have seen;
The excitement of laughter and the twinkle
in the eye with its reminder that life is good.
For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day.

I finger one of the messages of hope that
awaited me at the crossroads:
The smile of approval from those who held in their hands
the reins of my security;
The tightening of the grip in a single handshake
when I feared the step before me in the darkness;
The whisper in my heart when the temptation was fiercest
and the claims of appetite were not to be denied;
The crucial word said,
the simple sentence from an open page
when my decision hung in the balance.
For all these I make an act of Thanksgiving this day.

I pass before me the mainsprings of my heritage:
The fruits of the labors of countless generations
who lived before me, without whom my own life
would have no meaning;
The seers who saw visions and dreamed dreams;
The prophets who sense a truth greater than the mind
could grasp and whose words could only find fulfillment
in the years which they would never see;
The workers whose sweat has watered the trees,
the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations;
The pilgrims who set their sails for lands beyond all horizons,
whose courage made paths into new worlds and far-off places;
The Savior whose blood was shed with a recklessness
that only a dream could inspire and God could command.
For all this I make an act of Thanksgiving this day.

I linger over the meanings of my own life and the commitment
to which I give the loyalty of my heart and mind:
The little purposes in which I have shared with my loves,
my desires, my gifts;
The restlessness which bottoms all I do with its stark insistence
that I have never done my best, I have never reached for the highest;
The big hope that never quite deserts me, that I and my kind
will study war no more, that love and tenderness and all the
inner graces of Almighty affection will cover the life of
the children of God as the waters cover the sea.
All these and more than mind can think and heart can feel,
I make as my Sacrament of Thanksgiving to Thee, Our Father,
in humbleness of mind and simplicity of heart.

From For the Inward Journey, selected writings by Howard Thurman, 1984, Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press

WHAT THIS HOLIDAY IS FOR
My Thanksgiving poem

This holiday is for all that we
Take for granted,
Assume as a given,
Absent-mindedly overlook,
Claim as our God-given right.

This holiday if for all those we
Unnecessarily criticize,
Agitate with our demands,
Impatiently rush,
Regularly impose upon.

This holiday is for all that we
By-pass in our drivenness,
Go out of our way to avoid,
Carelessly forget,
Thoughtlessly leave out.

This holiday is for all things we
Receive as gracious gifts,
Share as common ground,
Express as transcendent grace,
Return in praise to God.

BEING MORE VS HAVING MORE
Monday Memo from my friend John Gibson

The Rev. John Gibson e-mails a "Monday Memo" on behalf of Indiana's effort in the Earth Charter project. I met John while working on regional sprawl, land use, and transportation issues. He's a retired United Methodist pastor who ran for mayor of Indianapolis with the Green Party several years ago and gives his energy to promote sustainability. I especially liked today's note from John:

COLD SNAP

REMEMBERING WITH GRATITUDE
Howard Thurman demonstrates a thoughtful practice worth considering

CONTEMPLATE THE YEAR. I like the way Howard Thurman recollects the year. The following words of thanksgiving come from For the Inward Journey, a collection of Thurman's writings (Friends United Press, Richmond, Indiana, 1984). Perhaps the simplicity and profundity of them may prompt us to consider such in our own lives.

OTHERS’ LABOR. “I remember with gratitude the fruits of the labors of others, which I have shared as a part of the normal experience of daily living.”

BEAUTIFUL THINGS. “I remember the beautiful things that I have seen heard, and felt--some as a result of definite seeking on my part and many that came unhearalded into my path, warming my heart and rejoicing my spirit.”

DISTRESS. “I remember the moments of distress that proved to be groundless and those that taught me profoundly about the evilness of evil and the goodness of good.”

NEW PEOPLE. “I remember the new people I have met, from whom I have caught glimpses of the meaning of my own life and the true character of human dignity.”

DREAMS. “I remember the dreams that haunted me during the year, keeping me ever mindful of goals and hopes which I did not realize but from which I drew inspiration to sustain my life and keep steady my purposes.”

THE SPIRIT OF GOD. “I remember the awareness of the Spirit of God that sought me out in my aloneness and gave to me a sense of assurance that undercut my despair and confirmed my life with new courage and abiding hope.”

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

CHESTERTON: 5 ATTITUDES TOWARD LIFE
The prolific, rotund English journalist posited some assertions worth contemplating

FROM ORTHODOXY. I listened to the audiobook of Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton on my iPod as I rode my bike through India last year. I purchased the audio and hardbound versions of the book based on a chapter about Chesterton in Philip Yancy's book Soul Survivor. While it is must reading, Orthodoxy isn't easy reading or listening. His English sentence structures are sprawling and he seems to go all the way around Robin Hood’s barn to make a point.

5 PRE-CHRISTIAN OBSERVATIONS. About a third of the way through the book, however, Chesterton stops to summarize the impressions that preceded his “discovery” of Christianity. We Wesleyans attribute such leadings and leanings to Prevenient Grace (the grace of God that precedes, prepares, and makes saving grace possible). Chesterton's five observations are significant across generations:

SEEDS OF DOCTRINE. “These are my ultimate attitudes towards life; the soils for the seeds of doctrine. These in some dark way I thought before I could write, and felt before I could think…

1. BEYOND NATURAL EXPLANATION. "I felt in my bones; first, that this world does not explain itself. It may be a miracle with a supernatural explanation; it may be a conjuring trick, with a natural explanation. But the explanation of the conjuring trick, if it is to satisfy me, will have to be better than the natural explanations I have heard. The thing is magic, true or false.”

2. PERSONAL MEANING IN THE WORLD. “Second, I came to feel as if magic must have a meaning, and meaning must have some one to mean it. There was something personal in the world, as in a work of art; whatever it meant it meant violently.”

3. BEAUTY. “Third, I thought this purpose beautiful in its old design, in spite of its defects, such as dragons.”

4. GRATITUDE, RESTRAINT, OBEDIENCE. “Fourth, that the proper form of thanks to it is in some form of humility and restraint: we should thank God for beer and Burgundy by not drinking too much of them. We owed, also, an obedience to whatever made us.”

5. GOOD A REMNANT OF SOME PRIMORDIAL RUIN. “And last, and strangest, there had come into my mind a vague and vast impression that in some way all good was a remnant to be stored and held sacred out of some primordial ruin. Man had saved his good as Crusoe had saved his goods: he had saved them from a wreck.”

IN SPITE OF THE ZEITGEIST. “All this I felt and the age gave me no encouragement to feel it. And all this time I had not even thought of Christian theology.”

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

OUR LITTLE WOMAN

SUSTAINABLE INDIANA
A few sites that can connect you to viable, local sustainability and green earth action

Clean coal? Wind? Bio fuel? Alternative fuels? Buzz words, only?

When? How? Will they make a difference? How much?

Readily recognizable corporations are seizing on the emerging call for clean energy with very slick (and expensive) TV commercials. Which makes the cautious cynic in me ask: What are they REALLY up to? Bait and switch? Obfuscation? Maintaining monopoly or market share? How hard are they really pushing themselves away from carbon-heavy fuels for consumers?

I don't dare take them at their word as it is presented in a TV commercial. Believing TV commercials/ads, in general, for truth and real commitments is unwise and unaccountable. Image, impression and illusion reign at the expense of reality in the ad world--no matter who is selling the product or promising pleasing outcomes. Count on it.

Below are a few online sites of valid, accountable organizations and initiatives that are working for sustainability and green earth practices. I recommend concerned citizens browse them and see if there are valid, local ways to connect. I will grow this list as I learn more and keep a link list in the Bikehiker sidebar.

I want to thank my friend John Gibson of Indianapolis for his consistent, persistent advocacy for sustainability. He introduced me to the Earth Charter and its local efforts.

Here are some worthy sustainability/green earth links:

Sustainable Indiana - a clearinghouse on grass roots sustainability efforts in the Hoosier state.

Indiana Sustainability Alliance - a business-based initiative

RACISM, CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY & THE CHURCH
Racism is a spiritual issue; recovery and reconciliation call for leadership from Christians and the church

SEEKING A REMEDY FOR RACISM. Even though many of us are hoping for breakthroughs in race reconciliation with the election of Barack Obama as our President, racism lurks just beneath the surface. A few seasons ago, comedy actor Michael Richards (aka Kramer of “Seinfeld” fame) sought professional counseling to help him understand what happened to him--in him, through him--at a comedy club that he hurled racial epithets at two black hecklers. Maybe what he discovered will not only help him, but many more.

RACISM IS SIN; IT NEEDS GRACE. In terms of Christian spirituality, we attribute such racial explosions to sin. Healing begins in seeking and finding forgiveness for hurtful words spoken and hateful attitudes expressed. It continues in a changed and purified heart through faith in Jesus Christ. Healing is completed as love becomes the guide for one’s thinking and actions. We believe this straight-forward analysis and faith response is a critical part of healing for personal bigotry and overcoming social disharmony.

A SEASON FOR SOUL WORK. Continued racial outbursts, racism exposed in recent Presidential campaign rallies and rhetoric, re-emergent anti-immigrant sentiment, and an unprecedented number of threats on the life of a President-elect should trigger a season of thoughtful reflection and responsible action for race reconciliation and community justice. Perhaps this should be our primary soul work in the upcoming penitential season of Advent.

RESISTANCE OR THRESHOLD? Why not take the time during the next several weeks to ask "why?" Kindle a fire of holy concern through personal awareness raising, relationship building, and whatever steps these call forth in your spirit. Resistance to diversity, awareness of prejudice's impacts, self-examination, and institutional questioning is a critical spiritual marker. Challenge resistance early and often. Let it become, instead of a point of shut-down, a threshold to walk through, however painfully, into new awarenesses, new relationships, and new perspectives.

DEAFENING SILENCE OF THE CHURCH. The silence of the church in regard to racism is as deafening now as it was when Martin Luther King, Jr. was trying to peacefully organize communities for racial justice in the 1960s. With notable few exceptions, his appeals to the churches largely fell on deaf ears. Continuing silence of the evangelical churches, in particular, is an indictment on Christian leadership. Every Christian Bible school, home school, elementary and high school, college, university, seminary, and graduate school that does not equip its students to understand and articulate the Christian call to community justice, racial reconciliation, and to stand with suffering neighbors abrogates whatever claims to moral leadership it asserts. The lingering question is: Why does the evangelical church NOT speak and act boldly--even lead the nation--in relationship to race reconciliation and community justice?

UNHEALED WOUNDS, UNEXPLORED ISSUES. A generation after the civil rights movement won landmark court decisions and Congress passed civil rights legislation, the "dream" of reconciled races, equal opportunity and justice, and community harmony amid diversity is yet to be realized. For the most part, most whites recognized the fairness of the court decisions and complied with these laws and directives. Still, race-related tension, regrets, accusations, hard feelings, unhealed wounds, and unexplored issues simmer beneath the surface of a veneer of superficial civility. That veneer will not last another generation; we already see its raw exposure in the increase of hate crimes among young people.

SIGNS OF HOPE. On the other hand, signs of hope and actions of positive engagement continue to be the salt, light, and leaven that penetrate fear, apathy, and ignorance. Usually, they are local and isolated—relationship breakthroughs mostly. Occasionally, they are national or international in scale and scope. Whether they are small or large initiatives, people of evangelical faith have opportunities to engage across racial and ethnic boundaries like never before. Our generation has run out of excuses and self-justifications for isolation, insulation, and disengagement. If the evangelical branch of the church of Jesus Christ is to emerge from its white suburban sub-cultural ghetto, here is one area of engagement it cannot fail to make.

Graphic: Racism: America's Original Sin is a good resources for thinking and talking through the challenges of racism in churches and small groups. Compiled and updated by Sojourners from articles that have appeared in the magazine. I've used it and recommend it. Available at http://www.sojo.net/.

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

PREPARE TO BE INTERRUPTED
Loving others isn't always easy or predictable, says Helmut Thielicke

“Anyone who loves must always be prepared to have his or her plans interrupted. We must be ready to be surprised by tasks which God sets for us today. God is always compelling us to improvise. For God’s tasks always have about them something surprising and unexpected…"

"God is always a God of surprises, not only in the way God helps us, but also in the manner in which He confronts me with tasks to perform and sends people across my path. Be flexible, adaptable, maneuverable, and ready to improvise!"

– Helumt Thielicke in The Waiting Father

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

LISTENING
One of the greatest disciplines and acts of love is active listening

I penned this a few years ago. I commit to it anew.

Foregoing advice
Withholding “how to’s”
Alternative to scolding
I’ll listen to you.

Instead of a lecture
Not judging outright
Suspending legalities
I’ll hear your plight.

Expect no reprisals
Let go of your fears
No harm will come
Just know I am here.

I offer you grace
And a deepening desire
To know your heart
And to be inspired.

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!

RESIDUAL RACISM
Now, more than ever, it's time to deal with racism that lurks in the American psyche

FEAR & HATRED BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE. The recent 20-month Presidential election season brought America's residual racism to the surface. Fueled by code-word campaigning by Barack Obama's opponents in the primary (to a lesser degree) and general elections (to a shamelessly large degree), the rawest of racial bigotry was turned inside out and whipped into age-old stereotypes and fears--even hatred and rage.

CRITICAL MOMENT, GREAT OPPORTUNITY. Despite the race card having been heavily in play, more registered American voters cast their ballots for hope instead of fear. Still, a significant number--perhaps millions of Americans--let race and racism determine their vote. Now we are told that the number of threats on the life of President-elect Obama are unprecedented. My poem, "Residual Racism," invites all to look for the roots of racism in ourselves and deal with it there decisively. Now is both an incredible opportunity and critical moment to turn away from hatred, fear, and resentment and embrace a surpassing grace.

What is this beast that lurks beneath the surface
so long bridled, seemingly dormant, even dead
that breaks the façade of apparent inclusivity
spewing venomous vitriol in fits of pathetic
racial rage?

What feeds this thing during years of guarded restraint
keeping it subdued, at bay, and yet ever alive
until mild provocation shatters political correctness
and the charade ends in a revelation of sheer
bigotry?

Is it birthed by early familial murmurings
implanted in impressionable minds by
loved ones who fail to confront their own
hatred of what they fear and so carelessly
inflict blame?

Is it nurtured by nursing perceived sleights
encountered in the schoolroom and playground,
each conflict and every word reinforcing
an irrational calculation justified by
each new hurt?

Is it fed by the observation of unaddressed injustices
ignored by leaders, minimized by influence groups,
cynically renamed and recast as inconsequential
to a public too satiated by technology and toys to
second guess?

Is it fueled by unspoken allegiances, winks and nods--
the stuff of fraternal bonding and back-watching
that is etched unquestioningly into the social psyche
as necessary and acceptable norms for getting along
in one’s herd?

Is it given wings by ideologies that define civility
by drawing narrow circles and daring those on the margins
to get up to speed, measure up, perform to the standard
that the self-protecting privileged could never fulfill
on their own?

It is driven deep into some supra-social DNA,
by resentments, pride, unsettled scores, and revenge
that build layer upon layer, generation upon generation
until one’s identity as race or class or caste or ethnicity are
ultimate?

Wherever it comes from, whatever its sources
let each and all of us attend to this residual parasite
that leeches our very hope for finding common ground
and knowing ourselves—and the other—as capable of being
peaceable.

I welcome your comments and/or questions in the spirit of dialog. Share yours by clicking on "comments" just below. They're moderated only to reduce incivility. Shalom!