Like so many others this morning I awoke to the news of the election results in the USA. On Facebook I read the countless posts of shock, horror, fear, uncertainty. It is difficult to fathom how someone whose words have embodied such hatred and covered every “ism” possible can now be the incoming President of one of the most powerful countries in the world. When the sun rose on this day the light was indeed blotted out and we face a future that is scary.

For many the last comments of Jack Layton hold up a vision of hope

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

For me the words of Jesus rang in my ears

“Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

In just a few short weeks we will begin the season of Advent, some will celebrate Chanukah (Hanukkah), others Kwanzaa and still others the Winter Solstice. Each will focus on light that overcomes darkness, the values of community, integrity, unity and a deep connection to a universal energy that we call divine.

We Have a Choice

As people of faith we have a choice:

unite our energies with the energy of the universe to affect light, life and change, OR
throw up our hands in despair and walk away.

I choose to do the former.  Now is the time to speak loudly and act boldly to give voice and body to justice. The future ahead is uncertain but it has always been thus and we are called to step out into the unknown, like our ancestors before us. We spend time in the wilderness or climb the mountain or sit a while in the garden to replenish our souls and gain strength for the journey. Then we move out into the market place to touch, hold, heal and reconcile. We speak the truth as we walk the path of justice and peace.

The View From the Mountain

One of my favourite books is called “Wisdom is Calling”. In it I have often found the words I need to hear, the challenge that inspires me to action and today was no different. I leave you with the words of a piece called “The view from the mountain” by Amado L Picardal of the Philippines

The View From The Mountain

In the silence and solitude of this mountain
I sit still surveying the scene.
I see no burning bush nor do I hear a thundering voice.
From this vantage I look at the sight below.
I hear the ascending cry of millions of anguished voices.

In the silence and solitude of the mountain
I gaze intently at your reality no longer with myopic vision
But with a higher, wider, deeper eye view.

The purge goes on within.
I am emptying myself completely
To allow you to penetrate the deepest part of me.
The more I become one with you
The more I fathom your liberating will, the more I see with your eyes
Hear with your ears, feel with your heart
And walk with your strength.

In the silence and communion of this mountain I see no beatific vision,
Only the sight below: our people enslaved and starving.
I feel no ecstasy, only the agony of seeing them
Exploited and dehumanized.

I cannot levitate. I cannot go up another higher story.
I have to go down and meet you on level ground
So that I may walk with you and other people
In their exodus from this no man’s land towards the promised land.

How I wish I could pitch my tent
Or build my mansion on this beautiful mountain.
But my true home is somewhere down below where the people are
And where they are going.
This mountain can only be a pace of rendezvous with my deeper self
And with the absolute you,
So that I can sharpen my vision and clarify my mission.

There will be other mountains to climb along the way.

Let us continue to walk in faith, live in love

and speak justice in the land.

Yes, we face a future that is scary

BUT

we have a choice!

Blessings
Valerie

© 2016 Rev. Valerie Peyton Kingsbury. All rights reserved.