Always Also Somewhere Holy, A Litany for These Days, Some Inspiration
So This is Helping . . .
Some thoughts on burdens, holiness, forgiveness.
Always Also Somewhere Holy.
So This is Helping . . .
A Litany for These Days
So I’ve written a litany, which is really just an uber-long list kind of prayer. I’ve been praying it at home, and it dawned on me that maybe we could pray it together, so I’ve tweaked it for us.
It takes 17 minutes. Get quiet. Settle in. That’s the point.
But a word about prayer. I don’t really know what prayer is. I used to have a better handle on it, I seem to understand it less the more I do. It’s because I seem to understand God less the older I get. Not very helpful, I know, it can be frustrating for me too. Some days, anyway. Most days I’m ok with it.
I’m better at explaining what prayer is not, for me. Prayer is not asking God to do something, as if God hasn’t thought of it yet. “Oh, right! I’d forgotten about the people in Gaza! Thanks for the reminder.”. Prayer is not the end of the story. “Ok, prayed for the problem, gave it to God, I’ve no responsibility.”
I’m not even sure, if I’m honest, who I’m directing prayer to these days. Jesus? For some reason that feels right for my most intimate self (sometimes) but the world’s problems not so much, don’t ask me why. God? For me, that’s a little too God-will-fix-things. Spirit? That fits better, in a Spirit/Energy pulls-good-out-of-bad way. And sometimes just the quiet of simple meditation (lets-not-parse-this-too-closely-with-thoughts-of-what-part-of-the-Trinity-I’m-talking-to-or-even-if-there-is-a-God) is good enough for my day. Honestly, I’ve got enough to get worked up about without being worked up about this.
This ambivalence/indecision might freak some out. That’s ok. You do you. Pray this liturgy in whatever way you like, or not. I’ve left it rather vague, in an open door way, for you to address whatever God/not God you like.
I offer it in the spirit of helpfulness, in several ways.
Maybe it can help calm your heart rate in these crazy times, center your day.
Maybe it can help us feel connected, those who listen to these things I put out on substack, who don’t even know each other. Connection is good.
I really do believe, even though I don’t understand it, that there is an Energy in the world that is working for good, and that we can lend our energy to that Diving Energy. It cumulates. More than the sum of the parts. We are one. It matters. It has power. That’s the best definition of prayer I’ve got.
A Litany for These Days
So This is Helping . . .
Some Inspiration
So this interview left me feeling so good about humans. Thomas Sipp was a lawyer who worked for the law firm Skadden, one of the firms that negotiated a deal with the President. In this interview Mr. Sipp talks about his decision to leave that firm, and I’ve included his resignation letter here. It was intended for just a few eyes, but has now become passed around, and I can see why. It is just so clear about who he is, why he is called to be a lawyer, where the line is for him. I love his calm, his integrity. I’ve been thinking about it all week. Inspirational.
“Dear colleagues and friends, I’m writing to let you know that I am leaving this firm. There was a time when my employment here was so unlikely. For much of my early childhood, I was not a good student. I struggled to focus in class and take anything seriously, but even then, there was one subject I loved, history*.
I thought it was so wonderful to learn about all that came before me, about the triumphs and tragedies, about the moments of individual bravery and collective complacency. I would often imagine myself faced with the same dilemmas. What would I do if I was there? Would I do the right thing? It always felt like there was no way to know.
I believe, as I know many of you do, that what the current presidential administration is doing is wrong, that we are sliding into an autocracy where those in power are above the rule of law. Skadden’s agreement with the Trump administration sent our country deeper down this descent.”
And then I finish. “Skadden is on the wrong side of history. I could no longer stay knowing that someday I would have to explain why I stayed.”
Well done, Thomas Sipp. Good on you. Thank you.
*Shout out to history teachers everywhere. Asterisk mine.
So This is Helping . . .
I have a secret collection of cross stitch patterns with the word Fuck on it so that if I ever want to cross stitch, I’m ready. But, since Holy Week is coming, maybe I should make this one:
That’s all for now, dear ones. Remember the words of poet Andrea Gibson: Do you know science just proved an atom can exist in two places at the same time? No one is ever only at the scene of their crimes. Each of us is always also somewhere holy.