the sunlight brought me here. /bellaciao
okay, okay, I woke naturally at dawn despite my best-laid plans to sleep until 9:10. and I have to admit there was something peaceful about rising in the morning chill. the cat was still dozing around my knees, so I flipped myself around in bed and gave her cuddles until she purred and started making biscuits. then I kissed her sweet little head and dressed myself. did I think a sweater would be enough over this dress? ha! with the heat not yet on, I needed a cardigan, too. I even pulled out a pair of fleece-lined tights. this is what I mean when I say I cannot fathom how the SAHM vloggers cope with only short-sleeved dresses! and nary a sweater in sight past March!
I did my Scripture writing before I opened my laptop, and today the words spoke to me, so much that I wrote them into a prayer, which at month's end I'll be tipping into my Bible. for now it's got a dark beige "prayer and worship" tab. I mean, the tab will stay. that's just the only way I have the passage marked.
then Morning Prayer with the Nat'l Cathedral, Rev. Patrick this morning. as he was talking about Paul and the king, I found myself praying... for Trump. praying that he, too, could be turned around as Paul was. that it's not too late for him to change course. logically I know how unlikely such a miracle is. but is it my heart's deceit, or is it the faithful soul's hope that he, too, might be saved? and in doing so, begin a greater work?
and I know this is not a popular stance even among progressive Christians. but to me it seems logical. a sinner rules over us. we are called to pray for him. then let me pray that somehow he comes to Christ for real and chooses a better way. of course I am still a Ps 109:8 woman. I am also called to love my enemy, and right now the only way to love him is to pray for him.
it's not in me to condemn utterly. that is not my job, either for money or on this planet. my work here is to seek peace. I come not with a sword. what life has ripped asunder, shall I not hope to see mended? but the mending is all God. I'm only an instrument. my job then is to be peace. my job is to pattern myself after Christ. to bring them all in.
and selfishly, to hate is tiring; to love is easier. to fight is draining; to reconcile, energising. to divide, despair; to unite, joy. if I happen to be seeking ease, and energy, and joy, what is it to the more aggressive among us? betrayal? that makes me sad. there is a reason I identify as politically centre-left. the centre-left doesn't ask me to hate righteously. it only asks that I use common sense. it seems to be where the civic-mindedness of the New Deal and the pre-Vietnam Boomer era went. so I follow. and I pray. and I savor the sunlight I am given.
