The Irreverent Reverend

The push back from last week’s blog on white privilege and racism was swift and in some cases, vitriolic. Bullshit was a common comment, as was inviting me to perform an anatomically impossible act. Vulgar GIFs were also common. Emoji responses were predominantly laughter, sprinkled with some anger and, gratefully, more than a few thumbs up. I wrote much of the negativity off as denial of the exact point I was trying to make. The fact that people are in denial about their privilege makes it no less real. It is part of what makes conversation on race so difficult. There is a deep seated assumption that being American means being white.

There were also some assumptions underlying the comments. Boot strap theology and the notion of rugged individuality were common.  Boot strap theology can be summed up by the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves.” It is the belief that everyone can raise themselves to a higher socio-economic standing with hard work and diligence. This combines with rugged individuality to reinforce the fallacy that successful people are self-made. The opposite is also true; if you are poor it is your own fault.

I discovered early on there was no point in arguing with these folks as they had no interest in another point of view. They were predominantly interested in belittling, judging and generally being rude. Some were quite good at it.

There was, however, another voice worth noting. These were people who took time to respond with something of their own truth; people who worked 2-3 jobs and were barely scraping by. These were people who never saw any privilege associated with their being white–people who lived in generational poverty. They defined privilege as opportunity that was not given to them, mostly education and employment.

I learned that my white privilege is not everyone’s privilege, my opportunities are not everyone’s opportunities and my educational access is not everyone’s educational access. It occurred to me that there is just as much anger in poor whites as in poor blacks. Giving more information to poor white people will not cause them to have a sudden epiphany. It will just piss them off.  Racism is not their issue, poverty is.

I learned something from my readers this week and I am both humbled and grateful. Seeking insight sent me off to my study and prayer closet. This is the fruit of that seeking and prayer. I may be way off, but that is a chance I am willing to take. I pretend no expertise in this area, just a series of observations about the last week’s blog post.

First, the privilege associated with being white diminishes with socio-economic status. It appeared that the poorer white people were the less privilege their whiteness afforded them. It speaks volumes to the economic inequities in our society. Poverty is no respecter of persons, skin color or gender, though women are more apt to experience greater income inequity than their poor male counterparts, regardless of ethnicity.

Second, there are disenfranchised people on both ends of the continuum of the ethnic divide. Poor whites and poor blacks feel they have no access to the means for upward mobility.

Third, there is an urgent need for reconciliation–true and deep reconciliation. This is a theological construct that is based in deep listening and understanding one another, without necessarily agreeing. It honors the differences in people’s experiences without judgement and seeks to build new relationships based on this new understanding. Both sides let go of their need to be right, their need to be self-righteous and their need to be the dominant voice, even if it is the voice of victimhood. Arguing about who has had it the worst is an exercise in frustration at best, deepening division at worst.

Learning to talk with one another and listen to one another are increasingly rare phenomena in our culture. Being right and being utterly convinced of the righteousness of a position makes conversation and insight impossible. As divisions in our culture grow deeper and more violent it makes the kind of conversation needed almost impossible. I have no idea what the answer is, but I feel sure that it has a strong root in a commitment to deep listening and reconciliation.

The pushback from last week’s blog on white privilege and racism was swift and in some cases, vitriolic. Bullshit was a common comment, as was inviting me to perform an anatomically impossible act. Vulgar GIFs were also common. Emoji responses were predominantly laughter, sprinkled with some anger and, gratefully, more than a few thumbs up. I wrote much of the negativity off as denial of the exact point I was trying to make. The fact that people are in denial about their privilege makes it no less real. It is part of what makes conversation on race so difficult. There is a deep seated assumption that being American means being white.

There were also some assumptions underlying the comments. Boot strap theology and the notion of rugged individuality were common.  Boot strap theology can be summed up by the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves.” It is the belief that everyone can raise themselves to a higher socio-economic standing with hard work and diligence. This combines with rugged individuality to reinforce the fallacy that successful people are self-made. The opposite is also true; if you are poor it is your own fault.

I discovered early on there was no point in arguing with these folks as they had no interest in another point of view. They were predominantly interested in belittling, judging and generally being rude. Some were quite good at it.

There was, however, another voice worth noting. These were people who took time to respond with something of their own truth; people who worked 2-3 jobs and were barely scraping by. These were people who never saw any privilege associated with their being white–people who lived in generational poverty. They defined privilege as opportunity that was not given to them, mostly education and employment.

I learned that my white privilege is not everyone’s privilege, my opportunities are not everyone’s opportunities and my educational access is not everyone’s educational access. It occurred to me that there is just as much anger in poor whites as in poor blacks. Giving more information to poor white people will not cause them to have a sudden epiphany. It will just piss them off.  Racism is not their issue, poverty is.

I learned something from my readers this week and I am both humbled and grateful. Seeking insight sent me off to my study and prayer closet. This is the fruit of that seeking and prayer. I may be way off, but that is a chance I am willing to take. I pretend no expertise in this area, just a series of observations about the last week’s blog post.

First, the privilege associated with being white diminishes with socio-economic status. It appeared that the poorer white people were the less privilege their whiteness afforded them. It speaks volumes to the economic inequities in our society. Poverty is no respecter of persons, skin color or gender, though women are more apt to experience greater income inequity than their poor male counterparts, regardless of ethnicity.

Second, there are disenfranchised people on both ends of the continuum of the ethnic divide. Poor whites and poor blacks feel they have no access to the means for upward mobility.

Third, there is an urgent need for reconciliation–true and deep reconciliation. This is a theological construct that is based in deep listening and understanding one another, without necessarily agreeing. It honors the differences in people’s experiences without judgement and seeks to build new relationships based on this new understanding. Both sides let go of their need to be right, their need to be self-righteous and their need to be the dominant voice, even if it is the voice of victimhood. Arguing about who has had it the worst is an exercise in frustration at best, deepening division at worst.

Learning to talk with one another and listen to one another are increasingly rare phenomena in our culture. Being right and being utterly convinced of the righteousness of a position makes conversation and insight impossible. As divisions in our culture grow deeper and more violent it makes the kind of conversation needed almost impossible. I have no idea what the answer is, but I feel sure that it has a strong root in a commitment to deep listening and reconciliation.

The exercise cited in “Being White in America” is originally the work of Jane Elliot. Her videos are easy to find on YouTube. I saw it in multiple places and neglected to cite my source. Thanks to a reader for calling this to my attention.

I write as an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I stand in the full authority of my office and say with holy rage, how dare you? How dare you co-opt the sacred text of Christians and Jews for a cheap photo op? How dare you insinuate that your rhetoric bears any resemblance to the Christian faith that is revealed in the bible you so cavalierly brandished? How dare you violate a constitutionally protected right to peacefully protest so you could trespass on church property for your little publicity stunt? Your role does not allow you unlimited access to whatever you want whenever you want. How dare you further denigrate the faith by your sudden need to visit the memorial to the pope John Paul? How dare you further blur the line of separation between church and state by pandering to your extremist base with a thin layer of religion? How dare you?

I am outraged. Your behavior is an abomination to the Christian faith. You blaspheme the name of the Holy God of Abraham and Sarah and the heavenly parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with your empty gesture. I abhor your attempt to cheapen the Judeo-Christian tradition through your ongoing boorish and cavalier behavior, while pandering to extreme fundamentalists because they support you politically.

I cannot judge your heart, but I can and I do judge your behavior. Everything you do and everything you stand for is to benefit the rich and further marginalize the poor. If you actually read the bible you flash around, you would see that every page of scripture is filled with witness to a God who cares for the poor and disenfranchised and desires to construct a just society. Read Isaiah and Jeremiah and then move on to the gospels. I am available for private tutoring.

In the name of all that is holy and just, stop misusing faith for your tawdry political agenda.

If you are a white American you are steeped in a culture of white privilege.

Imagine for a moment that you are in an auditorium filled with people of all ages, women and men, mostly white. The lecturer comes onto the stage and asks you all to close your eyes. He waits for the crowd to become quiet, eyes closed. He then asks people to rise, keeping their eyes closed, if they would like to be treated like a black man in America. After a moment he tells people they can open their eyes. Not one person is standing, including you, including me, including everyone we know in the crowd.

At some level we all know that privilege is ours because we are white. Pretending we don’t know or don’t understand is no longer an option.

Standing around wringing our hands and lamenting that nothing can be done is no longer an option.

Here are a few resources that help challenge our privilege and understand how we participate in and benefit from it.

• Pyramid of White Supremacy
• White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
• Dismantling White Privilege by Shannon Sullivan
• White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
• Anti-Racism Resources for People of All Ages
• Dismantling Privilege: An Ethics of Accountability by Mary Elizabeth Hobgood
• America’s Original Sin by Jim Wallace
• White Privilege Unmasked by Judy Ryde
• Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
• Textbook Racism: How Scholars Sustained White Supremacy by Donald Yacavone
• How to Be an Antiracistby Ibram X. Kendi
• White Anti-Racism Must be Based in Solidarity and Not Altruism by Jesse A. Myerson

Christianity is a religion that should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Instead, we have become yet one more institution more concerned about our buildings and the status quo than the mission to which we are called.

We cannot be the people of faith we are called to be and not deal with our inherent racism.  It’s just that simple. The God we worship, the God of resurrection ushers in a new way of being in the world, showing us what is possible when we stand in solidarity with the oppressed.

Solidarity means, in part, that we

• don’t speak for people, but stand with them as they speak for themselves;
• use our privilege for the benefit of Blacks, Latinos, and other oppressed groups;
• stop appropriating the cultural celebrations of Blacks, Native Americans and others and using them for our own purposes;
• do the hard work of educating ourselves and looking into our very core;
• vote in the best interests of those with the least power; and
• keep up with the changing lexicon regarding race.

Check out new music recommendations here and here.

All of the resources listed above are hyperlinks that will take you directly to the site. They are filled with information and practical ways we can transform ourselves into people who stand in solidarity with our black and brown sisters and brothers.

Your insipid twaddle is tiresome. You are not being oppressed.

• Oppressed are people of color who, every day, face a double standard and do not have access to the same opportunities you have because you are white. While you flash the confederate flag around you show your intent to keep hatred and prejudice alive.
• Oppressed are the poor who bear a disproportionate burden of this public health crisis. Traditional low wage workers were barely making it before this disaster. They don’t have the option of working from home. They may not even have a home.
• Oppressed are the six million Jews sent to the gas chambers during World War II because some lunatic decided they were an inferior race. It is tragic on every level, including the level that had thousands of people blindly following a crazy despot.
• Oppressed are GLBTQ persons in this country who don’t meet your standard for how someone should look or who they should love.

Wearing a mask does not quality as oppression. Privileged, selfish, spoiled, entitled small human beings are far more apt descriptors.

You think that your individual “rights” are more important than the well-being of our nation’s people. There are hundreds of thousands of grieving family members whose loved ones died without them by their side who would beg to differ. Just. Stop. Get. Over. Yourselves.

Your self–righteous, self-important assertions are not becoming. Your rights are not being violated. Your right of free association is not impinged. You can gather with whatever group of nut jobs you choose. You should know, however, you are being played like a cheap kazoo. Your so-called protests are, in many cases, bankrolled by those who have political motivations. Yeah, it’s not that there are that many people who agree with you. They are being paid by high rollers to take up your “cause” for the political favors they will call in down the road. It’s called astroturfing, and the solidarity they show with you is as phony as the grass after which it is named.

Lest you think in error about how your rights are being violated, let me clarify. According to Civil Rights attorney Peter James, “the Supreme Court has long upheld time, place and manner of public gatherings.” The current restrictions are within well-defined parameters and are perfectly legal. According to James, “Public health and safety, especially where it comes to highly infectious diseases, has been upheld as a compelling governmental interest that can override fundamental rights including the right to free exercise of religious beliefs.”

It is also perfectly acceptable for store owners to set limits on what can be purchased and when. They are free to set their own policies and determine how these policies are carried out. For example, store owners have the right to limit your purchase of toilet paper for your whole town, should everyone get dysentery at the same time. Store owners also have the right to deny you entry into their store if you refuse to wear a mask. Deal with it. Don’t go to a store jonesing for a fight and start recording so you can demonstrate how oppressed you are. It makes you a laughing stock. Don’t go to a store and spit in a cashier’s face because you refuse to wear a mask. It is a disgusting behavior under any circumstances, all the more now as it might be deadly. You might take heed that someone who recently did this has been charged with a felony.

What is curiously absent in your whiny assertions about your rights is a moral conscience. During World War II people willingly (for the most part) lived with rationing. It was for the good of the war effort and people were united around it. Currently, we need to be united around a common cause–saving lives and stopping the spread of the Corona virus. If you are utterly unable or unwilling to see this, you are indeed a sad human being.

The limits you are being asked to obey are for the good of people as a whole–social well-being over individual “liberty.” You are simply being asked to “take one for the team.” It is in the best interest of our country for you to get off your self-righteous soap box and follow the rules. Put on the damn mask. The loved one you save may be your own. The longer you insist on your silly little protests, the longer this virus is going to spread unchecked.

You should know that blathering on about your “rights” makes you look arrogant and unconcerned about anyone other than yourself. No one wears that look well. I would like to believe that you are better than that, but your behavior suggests otherwise. Prove me wrong, please. I dare you to put forth a better self. I challenge you to subvert your own self-centeredness with gestures of magnanimity that benefit everyone.

I have no idea what your political affiliation is and I do not care. What may interest you, however, is that there is wide bi-partisan support for not opening everything too soon. According to the Atlantic Monthly, roughly sixty percent of Americans are concerned about opening too soon.  You are not in the majority.

There is a need for social unity over individual assertion of rights and liberties. People everywhere are counting on every one of us to put forward our best selves.

Around the nation, and indeed around the world, people are missing out on celebrations.

• Graduates are missing the pomp and circumstance that acknowledges the work they have done to finish a particular part of their education.
• People who have had loved ones die as a result of the pandemic are denied a traditional funeral gathering.
• Our Muslim sisters and brothers are not able to celebrate Ramadan in traditional ways. (This Saturday marks Eid al-Fatr, a celebration marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.)
• Our Jewish sisters and brothers are unable to celebrate bar and bat mitzvahs.
• Baptisms/child blessings are on hold.
• Corporate worship during the Passover and Easter season was cancelled, as is weekly worship even now.
• In the Hispanic community, there are no Quinceanera celebrations marking a young girl’s transition to womanhood.
• In the Amish community, Rumspringa is being marked in a different way. Rumspringa is the time when young people are encouraged to go and enjoy all that life has to offer outside the Amish community. Then, if they return to the community, it is believed they make a more conscious choice to live in the Amish tradition.
• Wedding celebrations have been changed, postponed or drastically changed to meet social distancing and safety rules.

There is a combination of religious and cultural events that traditionally happen in the spring. For adolescents these rituals signify the transition from childhood to adulthood. For the grieving, these rituals signal the end of life as it is known and the transition to whatever comes next. Funerals also give a toe hold into grief, a socially marked time to express the sadness of a loved one’s death. For those getting married it signals a transition to a new and mutual partnership through life.  Weekly worship both encourages faith and expresses faith.

As all these life cycle rituals are put on hold, there are some amazing and creative ways people are celebrating. It is heartening to see all the ways graduations are being marked in communities across the country. Drive-through-weddings are now a thing…who thought that would ever happen? What’s next, drive through baptisms with a super soaker?

Joking aside, what all these rituals have in common is that they are more than the sum of their parts. They are not just words that are said in front of a bunch of people, followed by a party. Ritual is what gives us a place to stand for a moment, to mark a specific moment, as time inexorably marches on. Rituals punctuate time and proclaim the moment as significant.

Rituals also need people to bear witness. While some people may show up just for the party after the ritual, most people acknowledge that being present for life cycle rituals is important. The gathering of people who witness various rituals is a symbol of the present and the past. Saying the words of ancient history in a present moment, with a gathered community, connects us to our ancestors. We are reminded that we stand at a specific moment in history that is longer and larger than our lives in the moment.

We become vessels for tradition when we participate in the ancient rites of our particular people.  We embody the past and ground ourselves in the cloud of witnesses that has gone before us, saying the same words and promising the same things. They surround us and are there to remind and encourage us when we falter in the promises we have made. Rituals bear witness to the promise that we are never alone.

Rituals also touch something deep within us. As we punctuate time with a celebration and mark our place in history, we are internally grounded in a moment that is more than a moment. These rituals change us and acknowledge a new chapter in our lives. Rituals are not a magic switch that is flipped and we suddenly become someone else. Rituals, however, give us a new identity to live into and new expectations to live up to going forward. Rituals stand as a reminder that we stood in front of people, and in the midst of our ancestors, and pledged to do certain things and be a certain way. Such commitments are not to be taken lightly.

The loss of ritual in this time of global pandemic represents a kind of unmooring from the things which normally ground us. Grief and sadness are understandable responses to these losses, even if they are not fully articulated. We are created to be people of community. When that community is taken away we are bereft of a significant part of who we are. When ritual is absent from our lives, we are separated from the moments that solidify our identity, remind us who we are and what we have promised to do.

There are no easy answers, or even hard answers, about how to remedy this. A friend of mine is fond of saying that “The only way out is through.” We don’t have much choice except to get through it as best we can. Acknowledging our losses along the way and the sense of disconnection we feel in the absence of our usual rituals is an important part of validating some of the malaise and ennui we feel in this time.

Be gentle with yourselves, dear readers, be gentle with yourselves.

It is high time we stopped measuring the health of the economy by the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P and the Nasdaq no more represent the health of the economy than a duck represents the Mona Lisa.

Since the Great Depression, the stock market has been used as the gauge of economic wellbeing in the United States.  According to a recent article in the New York Times, the difference between then and now is the stock market’s distance to the reality of most Americans. In the market collapse of 1929 the S&P fell 86% and was viewed by many as the precipitating event of the Great Depression.  The privation of the American people and the crash of the stock market were forever connected in American consciousness.

Today the stock market does not represent what is happening in the lives of the average American. In April over twenty million people lost their jobs, even as stocks kept rising. The largest corporations in America tend to be multinational, have huge stores of cash and wide access to bond markets. This makes them far more resilient to the changes in economic health than small businesses and the average American. In addition, stock ownership is held primarily by the richest segments of the population who have greater resources to bring to times of social change.

Whenever people are one or two paychecks away from needing a food pantry, rental assistance, utility forbearance and increases in unemployment insurance and SNAP benefits, it is a sure sign that the economy is not working. The health of any economy is actually measured by how the poorest people are doing, how the most vulnerable are cared for and what social safety nets are in place all the time for low wage workers.

While the nation’s largest corporations continue to receive billions of dollars in bailouts, the poorest of the poor are facing homelessness, loss of health care, unemployment and in some cases the very real possibility of starvation. This is happening in the United States of America in the year 2020.

If the Corona virus has taught us anything, it is that our health care system is fundamentally broken and our financial system is rigged to benefit the rich. The lesson is driven home when we realize that those who have kept this country going are NOT the CEO’s and shareholders, but health care workers, grocery store clerks, sanitation workers, housekeeping staff and other traditionally low wage workers who often depend on social safety nets under the best of circumstances.

There is no place in the United States where a minimum wage worker can afford to rent an apartment, much less pay for food, medical care and other life needs, all the while putting something away for retirement. They often have nothing to put away for weekly groceries. Under the best of circumstances many people choose between paying their rent and eating, paying the light bill and buying medication.

The pandemic continues to disproportionately impact communities of color, elderly and communal living facilities and Native American communities. These are the undervalued and under-represented populations of our country. Their plights are often invisible and their cries for justice go unheeded. Racism, ageism and all the other “isms” that make us into “us” and “them” are widening the gap between what is needed and what is received.

In Liberation Theology, a major premise is the preferential option for the poor. It takes from Scripture the message that throughout both Testaments, God is primarily concerned for the well-being of the poor. Further, it postulates that the gospel can only be truly understood through the eyes of the poor. Therefore, the poor must be empowered economically and politically to participate in the structures of society and to help reshape them into something more just and equitable. Liberation Theology had its birth in South America but its premises are applicable to the United States as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

In the first Testament, every fifty years was to be a year of Jubilee; debts were cancelled, property was returned to its original owners and the balance of society was restored. In the second Testament, Jesus spoke more about the poor and needy than he did any other group of people. And the powers of his time would not tolerate it. He posed too great a threat to the status quo. Jesus wasn’t crucified for blessing babies and bouncing children on his knee, he was put to death as an enemy of the state because he was too radical and people were starting to believe his message. It was only a matter of time before the poor rose up and claimed a more equitable distribution of goods and services. The power brokers of the time made sure he was put to death before that happened.

We would do well to adopt the principles of Liberation Theology as a statement of protest against the powers and principalities of which Paul spoke in the eighth chapter of the book of Romans. Standing with the poorest and most vulnerable members of society is a benchmark of the faithfulness of the Christian tradition. American Christianity has a moral responsibility to be a prophetic voice for the poor and disenfranchised, not just during a pandemic, but every day.

The First Amendment protects your right to gather and protest. The Second Amendment protects certain rights to keep and bear arms. Storming the State House with assault rifles is, however, way over the top. It moves you from the category of protesters to domestic terrorists. It also illustrates with stunning clarity the privilege you enjoy as white men. If you had been people of color, there surely would have been some violence instigated by law enforcement.

Choosing the Confederate and Nazi flags as symbols of your “cause” is also your right. These symbols, however, beg the question of how such hatred and intolerance has come to define your way of being in the world.

The Confederate and Nazi flags are emblematic of two of the bleakest times in modern human history. The Confederate flag is a symbol of racism, pure and simple. During the Civil War the institution of slavery was the symbol of the status quo. Human beings were bought and sold like animals, and a person of color was considered 3/5 of a human being. The institution of slavery exploited millions of people, brought here against their will and enslaved to white entrepreneurs who depended on their labor to increase profit margins. Your choice of this symbol is a stark reminder that outlawing the institution of slavery has not eradicated racism. It is, however, incumbent on you to remember that the “rights” and “freedoms” you so freely flaunt are guaranteed to all people regardless of the color of their skin.

The Nazi flag is the quintessential symbol of intolerance and hatred. Millions of people were starved to death and slaughtered in the gas chambers of concentration camps. These victims of intolerance were put to death because of what they believed, who they loved, their social standing or their mental/physical ability. Well over six million people were murdered by a despot whom people willingly followed because of a bogus notion that there was a “superior” race and all others needed to be eliminated.

Flying the American flag with these symbols desecrates the flag you claim to care about so deeply. The American flag is a symbol of the rights and freedoms of all people, not just white men of privilege.

You may think that using these symbols makes you a badass protesting big government and standing up for your individual “rights and freedoms.” They do not. Rather, they show a remarkable intolerance to those who are different from you. Racism, Antisemitism, homophobia and other irrational fears of people who are different are inherent in the symbols of your “cause.” There is no way to redeem these symbols for our time. By using them you are tacitly, or blatantly, putting forth the “values” and “ideals” for which they stand. This doesn’t make you a badass; it makes you a bad American. America, at its best, is a nation where the rights and freedoms of all people are equally respected.

America, at its best, is also a nation that respects the rule of law. It is the standard of our society, a standard for which you show blatant disregard. For whatever selfish reason, you think your rights and freedoms are more important than anyone else’s. You are wrong. Flying the American flag with these symbols of hatred and intolerance desecrates the flag you claim to care about so deeply.

This is a time in our history when we need to be other focused and consider the common good above individual rights and desires. It appears that you assert your individual rights before the common good. Your resistance to this general principle of human decency is troubling. Perhaps you can select one or two family members you are willing to sacrifice for the sake of your “personal freedom.” Your grandmother, your child, your sibling or your spouse all make potential candidates for illness and death in the service of your “rights.”

Should you contract Covid-19, please have the human decency to refrain from seeking medical care. You surely have the right to put your life and the life of your cronies at risk. You do not, however, have the right to put health care workers at risk because of your selfishness. Perhaps your precious assault rifle can be the symbol that you are not a priority in health care since you put yourself in this position. Think of it as natural selection.

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Squash, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and more are sprouting in seed trays. Nurtured by regular, but not too much watering, these tiny seeds are bursting into plants that will be summer vegetables. As one who can kill rocks, I am enthralled with this daily process.

What all these young plants have in common is that they reach toward the light. Every day these seedlings lean into the light that spills through the window. The trays are rotated daily to keep the plants growing straight and strong. It is a marvelous thing to behold.

It is also an apt image for us in these uncertain and troubling times. We do our best when we reach toward the light.

In a literal sense, it means going outdoors and soaking up some sunshine. Feeling the sun’s warmth and the cool spring air is bound to raise our spirits.

In a deeper metaphorical sense it means reaching to the light that is within us, within all people and all creation.  Holiness resides at the core of all life. It is part of what it means to be created in the image of the Divine. All around us is holiness.

Light and darkness are repeating themes in most sacred texts. In the First Testament, commonly called the Old Testament, the word light is used 139 times. In the Second Testament, commonly called the New Testament, it is used 93 times. The word light is always used in relation to dispelling darkness, both in the world and in us. The light of the holy within and around us means reaching for wholeness, peace, love and justice.

In the Quran, light is a central concept in understanding Allah. The image of light is prevalent in the beautiful poetry of the Quran. Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.

In Buddhism, Enlightenment is a life-long goal. It refers to the knowledge or wisdom of a Buddha. For millennia, in response to the struggles and sorrows of life on this planet, people use the image of a flame (light) and pass it to one another. It is a way to symbolically take part in the agonizingly slow but impossibly tender awakening of the world as a whole.

There is within us all an inextinguishable light. This inner light dispels the darkness of fear and change. In these days of social isolation when it feels like our light is growing dim, we can nourish it through keeping in touch with close friends and family, enjoying the beauty of spring and engaging in a spiritual practice like meditation or yoga. Ten minutes of quiet and silence per day can be life changing. We are nurtured by all that brings light into our lives. When darkness and fear are overwhelming, we can imagine the light within us and consider what we can do to reach toward it.

The same light that is within us is in every single person. In yoga practice it is common to greet one another saying, “Namaste.” It means that the holy in me greets the holy in you. In the challenge of isolation and being cooped up with partners and children, it can be helpful to remember that the same light shines in us all.

The light that shines within us also shines in all of creation. It means that the ground we tread on is holy, the water is holy, the sky is holy…all of it. We can be deeply nourished by the holiness and light that is around us every day.

These are days of struggle. Life as we know it is and will continue to be radically different. It is unclear exactly what life will look like. Uncertainty is an unsettling thing. It shakes our fragile but persistent delusion that we are in control. In truth, we are in control of very little in our lives. If we have any doubt about this we have only to look at a global pandemic that has ravaged the world and isn’t done yet. This lack of control can be mitigated by seeking the light within and around us.

Reach toward the light. It is good for the soul, good for others and good for all creation.