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Icon by Kelly Latimore | Text by Robert Davis
To you who are reading this:
If you are unhoused, you know what it is like.
Even if you are currently housed, maybe you have experienced what it is like to not know where to go, to not have a safe place to be, to be unable to rest.
Have you ever been evicted?
Slept in a car?
Slept wherever you could find a place?
Have you ever had to leave with only what you could carry?
If you have never experienced any of these, you are fortunate.
Imagine it happening to you.
Coming home from work, you find the locks changed and your possessions on the curb. Beds, clothes, television. Maybe some of it has already been scavenged by passersby. You knew you were behind on rent, but thought you still had some time. You work so hard but money is so scarce.
Maybe your kids are there, locked out, waiting for you. Weeping. They came home from school and couldn’t get in. Their beloved bike is gone.
You can take only what will fit in your car. And you need room for everyone to sit. Maybe room to sleep. Can you afford a night in a hotel?
What about the night after that?
The night after that?
Many shelters are full. Many can’t accommodate families.
What do you do?
A tent and some sleeping bags. Yes. You can charge that. In a tent city, other people will be there, who already know how to live this way.
They will help you.
You have worries. You know that sometimes encampments are cleared by the authorities. Sometimes everything a person owns in the world ends up in a dumpster.
But you’re hanging on.
You can keep your family together.
You always have.
You can rebuild.
You always have.
You will rebuild.
The safety and kindness of new neighbors give you hope.
Sheltering God,
forgive me for all the times when I look the other way,
the times when I imagine that the hardships of others are not my own.
Help me, help all of us,
to change our society.
May it not be this kind of place—
a hell that throws human beings away.
Icon by Kelly Latimore | Text by Sharon Johnson
Three-Person God, open my eyes, my ears, my heart
to every human being … every lifeform … every habitat,
atmosphere, and force of nature.
Three-Person God, encircle me … surround me with grace …
fill my empty places with your love.
Three-Person God, help me care for and respect all that you
have entrusted to us.
May it be so
ever and always.
Amen.
Twenty centuries ago,
theologians suggested we think of God
as a Trinity—three divine persons in one—
persons who came to be called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—
perhaps to express
God’s infinite wisdom | God’s transcendence | God’s continued presence
in the world, in our lives.
How might we re-imagine the Trinity today?
Perhaps—
WOMEN OUR CULTURE PUSHES TO THE MARGINS. Women who might be indigenous … Indian, African, and Asian … neighbors who need our help.
Perhaps—
God’s invitation to each of us: CREATE, HEAL and BE A RIVER OF GRACE in this world. Now. Today.
Perhaps—
3 persons who remind us we are here to CONNECT & CARE FOR & RESPECT ourselves … those we know … those we have yet to meet … the entire biosphere.
Icon by Kelly Latimore |
Text coming soon
Icon by Kelly Latimore | Text by Matthew Frazier
Creator of All—Our best and brightest are so frequently beguiled by egotistical pursuits. Driven by fear, greed, and the promise of power, we toil under these same heavy burdens. Forgive us for seeking to be always more and to have always more; for protecting ourselves while harming others; for increasing destruction while decreasing in humility. We have been out for dominance and by placing our selves at the center of everything, others became collateral damage. Change us.
Neither a violent nor non-violent act, the motion and posture of Jesus seems to suggest a dance. With a slight, wry grin, Jesus is possibly even enjoying a bit of fun in this supernatural act of destroying a modern weapon with his own hands. While Jesus knows the unspeakable pain that such weapons of war cause, he embodies the release of that pain while also putting an end to gun violence altogether.
