A Blank Slate
Poetry Friday
Beloveds,
Today is Good Friday. I have this image of the disciples deep in thought and saying to themselves, “What now?” I wonder what would happen if someone handed the disciples a blank slate to write on after hearing the news of the death of Jesus. A slate to write regrets, experiences, grievances, memories, joys, and conversations to carry forward. What would they choose to hold close to them knowing the Beloved was no longer with them? We all know the story and still we will never know the inner thoughts of each of them or what conversations played over and over in their minds.
I am reminded that there are many times in our lives that we too are handed a blank slate to write upon. We lose people close to us through death or other circumstances. What are the moments that stick with us? What do we choose to write about that has touched our hearts? We tuck those memories away and pull them out every so often when something touches upon that writing. A smell, a visit to a certain place, or a certain song could tug upon those words. We revisit - maybe even rewrite some parts as we move through our life.
You also may have experienced an “inner death”. It could be a dramatic change that some call “dying to self”. This may lead to a deeper spiritual understanding of yourself. It could also lead to moving closer to the Divine. What do you choose to write on those slates when something like this happens? Do you wipe them clean? Or, do you write yourself a love letter to revisit with grace and an understanding of all that went before because those words made you who you are today?
The Beloved is gone. What do you do with your blank slate? Do you let the empire write your story or do you resist and take up your slate with what you can do to foster love and peace?
Blessings on this Holy Day,
Jace
I often take solace in writings by queer authors. Today I think about these questions posed by Rev. Anna Blaedel as I think about what I might write on my blank slate. May you find something here to be in deep reflection. Rev. Blaedel writes:
“What is prayer,” poet Mosab Abu Toha asks from exile, “but sharing the pain and living the beauty of life together?” Abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore asks, “What freedom can we make out of what we have?”
What questions are you loving, and living? What possibilities have taken on a life of their own, by sharing the pain and beauty of life together?
From Ruby Sales: “Where does it hurt?”
From M Shawn Copeland: “Where is my joy?”
Audre Lorde’s question reverberates through it all: “Are you doing the work you came here to do?”
M Jacqui Alexander builds on Lorde’s question, to ask: Who accompanies you?
For Ocean Vuong, the question is, “How do we live a life worthwhile of our breath?”
Lest you trip up on questions of worth or worthiness, Andrea Gibson reminds us to consider, “What if we don’t have to be healed to be whole?”
“How do you tell someone,” Belcourt asks, “that they are helping you stay tuned into life?”
And lastly, “Where is life precious? Where is crucifixion imperiling the preciousness of life? Where is resurrection sacralizing it”?
A PRAYER
Since prayer is a conversation with the One you love who also loves you, simply listen today. You don’t need to have any words to say.
Just lean in close and hear what the Divine is already speaking over you.
(deep breath in, deep breath out)
Amen.
(Sarah Bournes Crosby)Blessings on this sacred and holy day.