FootprintsintheWind.com

Not
One
Of us
Has the question

One
Of us
Has the question

:- Doug.

Do we love this widely and this much? Would we give up our children and grandchildren for the stranger, the guest, the world?

:- Doug.

Enemies not—only strangers: xenophilia. Exclusion is the blot on the heart. Welcome our stranger, love our guest, for we bring to each other great riches.

:- Doug.

Do we yet live by the gospel in a nutshell? Do we love the world this much? If this is the summary, then we are called to love this broadly, inclusively, and destabilizingly.

We cannot limit our love nor our beneficial action to people who look like us or think like us, or even only to people. As well, the degree of our love is called to go beyond ordinary limits, sacrificing dear ones.

:- Doug.

This is enough for now. Now enjoy the blue of the sky and the breeze of the afternoon.

:- Doug.

But together….
Together we are more
Than we ever thought we were
Colorful, thoughtful, engaging
Healing, bringing together, living
But together…

:- Doug.

Plugging in starts with the telephone cord, when we call 911. Our attitude is to do something; but we need to work out ahead when not to call. When not to call is symbolic; and it is a moving target. So it calls for continual conversation.

How do we recognize when it’s Now? When do we not call 911? Answers are not given. We cannot resolve this ahead of time; we can only be on the lookout; we can only address it each time. Between stimulus and response, stop, consider, give it your heart, too.

:- Doug.

We’re healing the world
We may not be able to resolve the world
But we can address it
Meet it

:- Doug.

We can never perfect the world. If one being is perfectly healthy, another may die. Things are so interrelated, any touch on the web is felt by another leagues away. But we can hope to heal: to make a whole that is more alive than the sum of its “parts.” There are no parts in life, no species: only one life.

:- Doug.

We cannot cure the world, only heal it; this is a modest task, for the work is complex and will take all of us. Then again, this partakes of particle thinking: yes, as individuals we can do little except salve the wounds and comfort and work in a direction. But together….

:- Doug.

I am sorry that people sometimes push each other away.

:- Doug.

Like the hod-carrier who was building a cathedral, one conversation at a time I’m bringing the universe together.

:- Doug.

Life may not end by a nuclear explosion
Nor yet by our sun flaring out
It might end by stupidity or greed
A broken oil well here
A couple copyrighted & patented viruses there
Soon we have devoured ourselves

:- Doug.

I don’t want a perfect world
I don’t even know what it would look like
I just want to pull & tug & invite & nip at its heals to get it to move a little more together

:- Doug.

Is the world
Torn and broken
Screaming in pain
—At the other
—Anything?
How can we respond?
In anger
With gentleness
Not to cure
Only heal?

:- Doug.

Ever since we were little children, sometimes we feel threatened by other’s words.

:- Doug.

Meeting Moving
Is what we are doing
Meditating
Contemplating

:- Doug.

Creation rolls on, and in an evolving world is for ever. The work of creation continues: not just repairing, but perfecting, expanding, making a better whole.

:- Doug.

We are trapped in our language and cannot see our way clear. Let us learn or invent another!

:- Doug.

What does Jesus-ing do?

:- Doug.

The breeze refreshes my face
The electrons on the screen dance
God is moving

:- Doug.

God is moving.

:- Doug.

Metaphors for God do speak of humans mainly, for it is the side of the relationship we see most clearly. But in depth the metaphors speak not of either God nor humans, but of the flow between: love.

:- Doug.